The War of the Dead
by Sami Lee
Summary: Harry and Malfoy have called a truce and the new foursome of Hogwarts is formed. Just how hard is it to become an Animagi? And what's this prophecy everyone's talking about? The war is almost upon them, who will survive?Warning: Slash. Chapter 10 up.
1. The Morning After

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

Hermione was woken suddenly as the huge library doors were opened. Draco followed suit as the curtains swung themselves open and he got a face full of bright light. The two yawned before realising that they were laying, mostly naked, in each other's arms in a large pile of robes and clothes. Draco sat up first and pulled his shirt roughly over his head, followed by his pants, then he turned around so that Hermione could dress herself.

Hermione thanked Draco silently for turning around, she wasn't used to waking up in this kind of situation, she usually had the brains and wits about her to get up and leave before her partner woke up. But this time, they'd woken together, and now she didn't know what she would say to him. She knew he'd ask her whether it was a one-night stand or she was going to dump Ron and stay with him. She didn't want him to ask the question because she didn't have an answer. She really did want to be with Draco, but as simple as it seemed when the two of them were alone together, she knew it would be anything but simple the second she walked out the library doors and saw the rest of the Gryffindors.

Draco finished doing up his Slytherin robes before turning back to face Hermione. She hadn't put her robes back on; after all, it was early. But she still looked beautiful. Draco didn't want to bombard her with questions either, even though he was dying to ask them. "I'm going down to the dungeons to get changed, I guess I'll see you around..." He didn't want to sound cold, and he smiled at her warmly before picking up his own books and quill.

Hermione faltered for a second before she realised that it was for the best and they could talk about it another time, it was more important now for them to return to their respective houses and then make a decent appearance at breakfast so that no one realised what had happened. Though surely their housemates had realised that they were missing, Hermione hoped desperately that they wouldn't guess what was going on. And seeing as the Slytherin and Gryffindors didn't really get along that famously, if at all, she hoped that maybe none of them would even notice that both she and Draco had both been missing all night.

It was that moment that Madam Pince decided to finally make an appearance. She strode into the library, had a quick glance around and, missing Hermione and Draco as they ducked in behind a bookcase. She then noticed the book that Hermione had left on her desk during the night, and Hermione cursed silently under her breath. But Madam Pince simply picked the book up, looked at it strangely for a few minutes and then walked over to place it back on it's shelf. Draco nudged her and nodded at the door.

She smiled at Draco and nodded. "I wont say anything yet. I need to sort Ron out first, and I'm not sure how Harry would take it..." she stopped talking, realising Draco already knew how hard it was going to be for her. It was going to be just as hard for him. He smiled at her again before sneaking out of the library. Hermione sighed and then, gathering her own things, snuck behind Madam Pince and headed up towards Gryffindor tower. She walked solemnly, almost like one condemned, until she reached the portrait hole and snuck inside. Luckily there was no one about, so she went as quietly as she could up to her dorm and crawled into bed, where she promptly fell asleep.

Draco unfortunately wasn't so lucky, as he entered the Slytherin common room; he found Pansy up and wide-awake, sitting on the couch reading. She turned to look at him as he came in. "And just _where_ have you been all night?" she smirked at him, in true Slytherin style.

"Out. What's it to you?" He snapped. He didn't want to talk to Pansy. He didn't want to talk to Crabbe or Goyle, He didn't even want to talk to Blaise, and that was saying something. He wanted to talk to Hermione, he'd probably even settle with talking to Harry. He started wondering about what it would be like to be friends with the 'Three musketeers', then he thought better of it. He didn't want to be a Gryffindor, he was happy enough being in Slytherin, even thought there was no way he'd ever want to follow in his father's footsteps. Maybe I should see if I can change houses, Draco thought to himself. Then laughed out loud. Pansy looked at him like he was going crazy. He headed up to his dorm and didn't talk to anyone up there.

Hermione crawled out of bed again at 9:30 and got dressed, her head hurt, and her eyes would barely open. She washed her face and then headed down to the common room. The boys weren't there. She decided to go upstairs and see of they had left without her. She pushed their dormitory door open to reveal 5 still very asleep boys, all of whom looked like they were in very uncomfortable positions. She cleared her throat loudly. Nothing happened. She coughed even louder. Ron rolled over and mumbled in his sleep. Finally, fed up, she marched over to Harry's bed, picked up the jug of water next to it and poured it over his head. Harry sat up with a jolt.

"Oh, Hermione, it's you." He shook his head and rubbed his eyes before picking up his glasses and putting them on. "What was that for? Are you really _that_ hungry?" Hermione nodded and then headed to the door.

"Can you wake Ron and get him ready, I'd like to get there before breakfast is over." She yelled as she stormed back down to the common room and plonked onto one of the couches. She didn't know why she was in such a bad mood, but it must have had something to do with her lack of sleep, because when she thought about what happened with Draco the night before, she couldn't help but smile to herself.

Draco on the other hand, didn't get any extra sleep. The boys in his dorm simply wouldn't let him be, so he changed his clothes, washed his face and headed straight down to the Great Hall. What would he do when he saw Hermione at breakfast, he wondered to himself as he walked through the halls, he'd have to sit around and try and act like everything was normal and he hated her. Could he do that? He wasn't so sure. He thought about what had happened the night before and smiled, then he shoved his hands in his pockets, took a deep breath and entered the Great Hall. Without wanting them to, his eyes went straight to the Gryffindor table, the three weren't there, in fact, none of the 6th year Gryffindors were there. He shrugged and continued past it to the Slytherin table. He sat down and look at the selection of food in front of him before grabbing a bowl and filling it with cereal of some form or another. He then proceeded to smother the cereal in milk and start shovelling it in his mouth.

Hermione entered the hall with Harry and Ron close on her heels. She didn't need to scan the Slytherin table to know that Draco was already there. She noticed his hair before anything else. She looked away before he caught her eye and headed over to the Gryffindor table. She slumped down and put her head in her arms.

"Hermione are you alright?" Ron asked her when she didn't take anything to eat. She nodded as best she could with her head in her arms. Ron shrugged and looked at Harry who also shrugged, then turned his attention to his own breakfast. Harry looked at Hermione once moving before going back to his own breakfast.

Draco watched Hermione from across the hall and couldn't believe that they were accepting her excuse, which she'd obviously given them, of being tired. She looked absolutely miserable. She looked like she was having a war with herself, and he knew it was partly his fault. He knew she'd either choose Ron or neither of them; it would just be too difficult for them to be together. He let his head rest on his palm, his elbow perched on the table. He wondered if it would really cause that much trouble if he just came out and told everyone that he liked Hermione and wanted to be with her, would that many people really question him? He really wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe he really was loosing his touch, just like she'd said...

Hermione looked over their timetable for the day, Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, Ancient Runes, a class that Draco also took, Double potions with the Slytherins. Oh, this is torture, Hermione said to herself. How am I supposed to choose... well, really, I've already chosen, but waiting for the right time is going to be hard seeing him all day. Not to mention Harry will be in a bad mood after seeing Draco all day. She huffed to herself.

"Something you want to talk about, Hermione?" Harry asked as he got up. He looked as her quizzically, he knew there was something up, and he also knew she didn't want tot tell him what it was, but he wanted her to know that he was there if she needed someone. She smiled and took Harry's hand momentarily.

"Yes, but not yet." Harry smiled back and nodded, knowing that when she said she would tell him, she would, and that he shouldn't worry about it. Hermione, on the other hand, thought that Harry should be worried, because if she went through with what she was planning then it would be affecting everyone, not just herself, Draco and Ron. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling at some random knots. "Ouch." Harry laughed at her and she play swapped him on the arm. "Don't you laugh at me, wonder-boy." They both laughed and made their way down to Care of Magical Creatures.

Upon arrival the three greeted Hagrid and then stood back to wait for the other students to arrive, it didn't look like Hagrid had anything too scary for them, as there were no large crates or broken fences about. Hermione sighed with relief when Hagrid said that they would just be writing an essay today, as he wasn't feeling well and hadn't been able to come up with anything practical for them to do in the time he'd been feeling well enough. The students didn't argue, got out their quills and started writing from their books. Hermione took a moment to sneak a peak over at Draco; he was sitting on the grass, bent gracefully over his parchment, his book balanced on his knee. She smiled, wishing she could go over and sit with him, but knowing that she couldn't she let her smile fade.

She finished up her essay with plenty of time to spare and Hagrid let her go for a walk through the grounds for the remainder of the lesson. She thanked him and wandered off toward the quidditch pitch.

Draco watched Hermione get up and walk toward the quidditch pitch, still not looking completely content. He sighed and turned back to his parchment to find Blaise was watching him. He looked and Blaise, pleading with him silently not to say anything. He tore a small piece of parchment off the corner of his page and scribbled a quick note. _Blaise, please please don't say anything in front of the others; I'll explain it all in potions, I promise._ He passed the note across to Blaise who took it, skimmed over it, smiled and nodded to Draco. Draco felt his body relax, and mouthed the words Thank You to Blaise; the other boy simply shook his head and returned to his essay.

Hermione wandered past the quidditch pitch and then wondered why she'd felt the need to get away from Ron. That's the reason she'd accepted Hagrid's offer and gone for a walk, wasn't it? Yes, she told herself. Oh this is stupid, I can't even stand to be near Ron, and I don't want to be near anyone but Draco. She sighed aloud, and jumped slightly when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to find Harry standing behind her, puffing slightly. "Is everything ok, did you wanna have that talk now?" She smiled and nodded, sitting on the grass, Harry sat beside her.

She told Harry all about being locked in the library with Draco, about what had happened in no great detail and that she had _almost_ slept with him. "Well, I don't blame you 'Mione." Harry smiled when she looked at him questioningly. Harry continued. "Well, he is the best looking guy in school." Hermione's mouth fell open. Harry reached up and gently closed it. Hermione smiled then and threw her arms around Harry. Once he got over the initial shock, Harry put his arms around Hermione and hugged her back. She couldn't find words at that moment, so she just held him. But Harry could find words. "You're not the only one who's in love with a Slytherin either. I have an idea, I'll help you find a way to break it off with Ron and be with Draco, if, by spending time with our second-favourite Slytherin," He winked. "You can find out some things about Blaise for me." Hermione looked at Harry for moment, smiled and then hugged him again.

"Anything Harry, oh, I'm so glad you don't hate me!" She smiled broadly and Harry stood up, offering her his hand. She accepted and they stood up and started to head back over to the class. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Harry. Thank you." Harry shrugged and put his arm around her shoulder. Hermione decided then that she would talk to Ron that night.

Draco couldn't help but watch Hermione and Harry together. They looked good together, and really, he didn't know why Harry hadn't jumped at the opportunity of dating Hermione. But then he obviously had his reasons, and Draco wouldn't hold it against him if it meant it gave himself more of a chance with Hermione. As they came back to the class, Hermione managed a small smile in his direction. Draco smiled back. It was as though when he was with Hermione, he was a different person, he suddenly realised. He'd certainly felt more alive than he ever had before in his life the night before in the library with her.

He decided he needed to talk to her. He wrote a quick scribbled note on a spare bit of parchment and tucked it into this pocket. He'd find a way to slip it to her before dinner. In fact perfect opportunity came as they were leaving Care of Magical Creatures and Harry left his book on the grass by Hagrid's hut. He rushed over and picked the book up, tucked the note securely in the front cover, and, praying that Hermione had mentioned him to Harry during their little chat earlier, he ran up behind them and called to Harry. "Hey, Potter, left your book behind, better make sure your head is screwed on or you'll leave it behind." And with that he threw the book at Harry's head. Harry dodged the book and let it land on the grass next to him, as he bent down to pick it up, Draco could have sworn he saw Harry wink.

Hermione, noticing that Harry had stopped, turned to see what was going on, Harry nodded at her, and she turned back to look at Draco, he nodded back and Hermione looked back to where she was going very confused. She didn't look back at Draco again as they entered the castle, and she and Harry headed straight for Gryffindor Tower. When they entered the common room, Harry dragged Hermione over to an empty corner and pulled the note out of his book. "I knew it." He muttered, handing the note to Hermione.

She unfolded it and read:

_Mione,_

_Meet me after dinner, there's a classroom that's never used three doors down from the Potions room, it wont be locked. 9 O'clock._

_Mal._

Hermione looked and the letter and couldn't help but smile. A secret meeting, it was so romantic. She stopped swooning when she remembered Harry standing next to her. Harry only smiled at her. "You can take the cloak." Hermione truly didn't know what to say, she threw her arms around him again and held onto him for a few minutes.

"Thank you so much, I love you Harry."

Harry smiled. "I know." He hugged her back and then they separated, Harry waiting for Ron so they could go to Divination together and Hermione heading off to Ancient Runes. Upon arriving at her Ancient Runes class, Hermione took a seat up the back, she had planned to sit by herself, and it looked like she'd be lucky enough to stick to that plan. The other students milled in and sat in their respective seats, in pairs or threes, but Hermione was quite happy sitting by herself today.

As Draco headed into ancient runes, he noticed that Hermione had chosen to sit by herself, she still didn't look entirely happy, but at least Harry had managed to make her feel better than she obviously had that morning. He watched her as he headed up the back, but to the other side of the room and sat at the desk next to the one where Hermione was seated. Even if he couldn't talk to her, it made him feel better knowing she was only a table away. Blaise soon joined him and the class started shortly afterward.

The rest of the day, including double potions, went by extremely quickly for Hermione. For Draco on the other hand, it seemed to do nothing but drag. He sat in potions, idly staring out the window, not paying any attention what-so-ever as to what was happening in the class. He let Blaise take notes and then did as he was told when it came to making the potion in the second lesson. By the time that was over, Draco felt like it was Friday as opposed to Monday. He sighed loudly and Blaise looked at him questioningly. Draco shook his head to motion that there was nothing wrong and turned again to look out the window.

He went straight to his dorm after potions and didn't speak to anyone, leaving only when it was time for dinner. He took his usual seat at dinner next to Blaise, but only picked at his food. Blaise looked at the blonde. "Are you sure everything's ok with you? Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? That there's nothing I can do to help?"

"I'm sure, thanks Blaise." Draco mumbled, before looking up to try and find Hermione at the Gryffindor table. She was halfway along and deep in conversation with Harry.

"Are you sure It's ok, Harry? What are you going to tell Ron? Maybe I should tell him..." Harry shook his head and told her that everything would be fine. She still didn't think it would be ok, but she nodded all the same. Harry finished what he was eating and told Ron they'd meet him upstairs, Ron shrugged and went back to his food and listening to the conversation Fred, George and Lee where having.

Harry and Hermione headed straight up to Harry's dorm. Harry rummaged around in his trunk for a moment, before pulling out the familiar flowing material that was his invisibility cloak. She accepted it from his and hugged him once more. "Just have fun," He said, smiling at her, "and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Hermione smirked before turning and leaving his dorm, shouting back that not doing anything Harry wouldn't do didn't really leave much to the imagination. Harry shook his head as she headed out of the portrait hole, and watched her slip the cloak over her head. A few minutes later Ron came into the common room to find Harry sitting in one of the chairs surrounded by parchment and books. "What are you doing, Harry?"

"Homework." Harry replied, not looking up from his books.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron was looking around the common room, as if Hermione may be hiding behind the couch. Harry looked at him strangely.

"I dun'know." He replied.

Meanwhile, Hermione snuck through the halls, heading down to the dungeons as quietly as possible. Draco simply left his common room and walked up to the empty classroom. He entered to find it still empty. Don't worry, she'll be here, he told himself. Taking a seat on one of the desks and moving himself so that he could look out the window.

Hermione opened the door to the empty classroom to find Draco sitting on one of the desks, staring out the window. She had half expected him not to show. Without removing the cloak, she snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle. He jumped slightly, and turned around, Hermione pulled the cloak off and, dropping it on the floor, pressed her lips to Draco's.

Upon realising what was happening, Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and pulled her closer to him. After breaking the kissed he hopped of the desk and looked into her eyes; she smiled and then laid her head against his chest. "So..." Draco started, running his fingers through her hair.

"So, what?" she asked, looking up once more into his eyes. They reminded her of open pools reflecting a mass of rain clouds rolling overhead. He rested his chin on her head and wrapped his arms tighter around her; she lay back on his chest.

"What's going to happen now?" He let her go so that she could turn around and face him, she did so.

"I'm going to break it off with Ron. I think we need to act though as if we're just friends for a while. That we, we can gradually ease everyone into the fact that we're... well, us." She looked up at him hopefully, praying that he wouldn't ask that they just tell everyone they were together. He smiled down at her.

"Whatever it takes, 'Moine." She smiled and he pulled her into another embrace. "I noticed you had a nice long talk with Potter. You told him, right? How did he take it?"

"Surprisingly, he was actually extremely happy about it." Hermione started then scrunched up her brow, thinking about how she could word her next question. She thought about it for a few moments before she spoke again. "He kind of likes someone in Slytherin, he asked if maybe you could help him in finding out whether this person likes him too." She looked up at him.

Her smiled. "Sure." He was the happiest he could ever recall, not only did he have Hermione, the most beautiful, smart, fun girl in Hogwarts, but he even had a chance at being friends with Harry Potter. Draco had held a grudge against potter ever since he'd rejected his friendship in their first year. But he completely forgot about it now he had the chance to reconcile all their differences and become friends. He hugged her tightly to himself again, kissing her nose, she giggled. "So, who is it Harry likes, anyway?" He looked down at her and she smiled mischievously.

"Blaise Zabini."

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Thanks for reading, what did you all think? R & R, pretty please?

Cheers,

Sami.


	2. The Truce

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

Draco looked at Hermione for a fair few minutes before he opened his mouth. He then sat there for a few minutes more before he actually found his voice.

"Potter's gay?" He finally asked. He looked more surprised than revolted, and without changing his expression, he turned and sat once more on the desk behind him. Hermione stepped forward and stood before him, placing her hands on either side of his face. She nodded slightly and smiled at him.

"He told us last year." She said. "But it's probably pointless, right? I mean, Blaise isn't..."

Draco smiled. "Actually..." He said slowly, his expression showing an inkling of calculation. "I think Harry might be in luck. That's the reason I was so shocked. Blaise came out in our third year, and it was just last week Pansy and I were asking him about when he was going to put his moves on Harry. The only problem is, Blaise would never believe me if I told him Harry was gay, not even if I told him you'd told me... This will take some careful planning, it'll be hard, at first, but damn it'll be fun." He looked back down at Hermione, who winked and then laughed at him.

"In the meantime, what are we going to tell people about us? Should we just tell them we're friends now or something?" Hermione didn't stop smiling, even though Draco had touched on a serious topic.

"I've already sorted that one out. Tomorrow, at breakfast, Harry is going to call a truce with you. And you and Harry will become friends, and I just tag along, see? There'll be no lying, no sneaking around, and no one will get hurt... Well, except for Ron. But Harry seems to be sure that Ron will come around in the end." She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him, he accepted the gesture and kissed her back.

"Ok then, so I just have to sit back and see what Harry does then?" He asked, smirking, Hermione giggled and nodded. "Excellent." He said, before shuffling into a more comfortable position on the desk he was sitting on and pulling Hermione closer to him. He looked into her brown eyes for a moment, before closing his own and kissing her deeply. He felt her arms snake around his neck, and she pulled her body closer against his, her small breasts pressed against his chest. She reached up and raked her fingers through his soft hair, still kissing him passionately.

Draco let his hands move down her back until he reached her skirt, then he let his hands explore her soft thighs. She moaned lightly and stopped kissing his mouth, moving onto his neck and chest.

The next morning, Harry ducked out of the common room early and headed up to the owlery. He took the note he'd written out of his pocket and proceeded to look for Hedwig. He found her on one of the top perches; eating something she must have found the previous night while hunting. Once he had coaxed her down, he tied the note around her leg and gave her strict instructions that she must deliver it to the blonde Slytherin, even though she didn't want to. "At breakfast." He emphasised to her. And then he left her with the note and her mouse and headed down to breakfast himself.

He sat down at the table next to Hermione who had already arrived and they both waited for Ron. Harry was going to talk to him after breakfast about becoming friends with Draco, Hermione was going to break up with him. She felt sick on the stomach. She didn't touch her breakfast. Harry smiled and waved at Ron as he entered the hall, looking rather sleepy, and he plonked down on the seat next to him. "How come you didn't wait for me?" He asked Harry.

"I needed to go and see Hedwig, sorry, Ron, I have something fairly important I need to talk to you about after breakfast, meet me at the quidditch pitch, ok?" Ron nodded, confused, and turned to his plate to have some breakfast. Harry looked over his shoulder at the Slytherin table, and noted to himself where Draco was sitting so that he could have a look when the mail came.

Draco sat next to Blaise, who he still needed to have a quick word to about Harry. He knew Blaise liked Harry but he didn't know if he'd believe a word of anything he was going to tell him. He looked over at the Gryffindor table, Hermione had tied her hair in a pony-tail and he noted to himself to tell her later that it looked gorgeous, Harry was talking animatedly to Ron, and Draco knew neither of them had spoken to him yet. He sighed, wondering when Harry was going to make his move. It was at that moment that the post arrived and a cute, snowy owl landed on the table in front of him. She held out her leg and Draco looked at her inquisitively. He took the note off her leg and when she still didn't leave, he handed her some bacon, she hopped up onto his shoulder, nipped his ear, took the bacon and flew back out the window.

Draco snuck a look over at the Gryffindor table before reading the note, Harry was looking in his direction, he nodded discreetly and then unfolded the note.

_Draco,_

_Meet me in the entrance hall before dinner tonight. I'll have Seamus 'accidentally' tip someone off about it and the majority of the school will be there to witness a truce between the Slytherin Prince and Yours Truly._

_Harry._

Draco blinked twice, Harry had called him Draco. He read the note once more quickly, and laughed at Harry's sense of humour. He could definitely be friends with him. He sighed, reaching for his juice and drinking what was left n the glass in one go. He replaced the glass and then headed down to the Slytherin common room to get his books for class.

Harry left the hall and headed straight for the quidditch field, they had care of magical creatures first, and Harry had told Hagrid that he, Hermione and Ron wouldn't be present. Hagrid had agreed to let them go, even though he knew everyone would think they were up to something, Harry had told him to tell the class that he was sick, and that Hermione and Ron were with him. He reached the pitch not long after and took a seat in the third row, Hermione joined him not long after, and Ron came down last.

"What's up, Harry?" He asked, sitting down next to him. He ran his fingers through his hair and Hermione remembered why she had started going out with Ron in the first place. She wondered if he'd noticed that she'd been avoiding him lately. She really didn't want to fight about it with him, but she knew he'd be cut.

"Well," Harry sighed. "I can't find a way to sugar coat this, so Ill just say it. I'm calling a truce with Malfoy. I'm just totally sick of being enemies with him." Ron stared at Harry, he didn't say anything for about 45 seconds, until he turned to Hermione and opened his mouth to try and say something, all that came out was a muffled sound.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. "That's not all Ron, I don't want to upset you or hurt you or fight with you, but I don't think we should go out anymore I was much happier when we were just friends." Ron shut his mouth. He stared at her. Then he started crying. He looked at Harry again before he stood up and left the quidditch pitch.

"Well, that went better than expected, at least." Harry mused. Hermione nodded but didn't smile. She felt horrible, absolutely wench-ful, Harry placed his hand on her shoulder, noticing that she looked about ready to throw herself in front of the Hogwarts Express. "Mione, don't be so hard on yourself, He'll come to, he just needs a little time to think it all over and get over the initial shock." Hermione nodded. Harry was right. But she still felt extremely bad for what had happened between them and Ron.

Meanwhile, in Care of Magical Creatures, Draco and Blaise were paying no particular attention to Hagrid's class. Instead, they were bent over Draco's parchment, scribbling notes to each other.

_Harry likes you._ Draco had started in his messy scrawl. Straight forward and not really his style, but he had no idea really how to tell Blaise what was happening. He figured it was for the best to simply tell him straight out.

_What? Stop the joking, Malfoy. That's just stupid._ Blaise scribbled in his own neat handwriting. Malfoy scrunched his nose up.

_Why would I lie to you? Hermione told me, Harry asked her, to ask me to help him with getting you two together. Even I'm not stupid enough to make something like that up for no reason._ Draco scribbled it quickly; slightly insulted that Blaise actually did think he was lying. He shrugged and wrote again as Blaise sat and stared blankly at the page. _Do you want me to talk to him? You've heard about the truce, haven't you? It'll be easy, and no one has to know but the four of us._

This time Blaise took his turn to reply. _No, I'll talk to him, but not yet... so what's going to happen tonight? Are you and Harry just going to walk up to each other and shake hands?_ Draco smiled and tapped Blaise on the back.

_Just don't you worry about that, Mr. Zabini. I have everything figured out. Harry's going to act like Mr. Nice, offering me his friendship, and just to keep everyone off the scent, I'm going to play Mr. Malfoy. And throw it right back in his face – to begin with, anyway._ Draco finished writing and handed the parchment to Blaise as the lesson ended and they packed their things up, and headedup to the castle.

At lunch Ron sat with Fred and George, this surprised Harry as he thought that Ron would be sitting with them again by lunchtime, even though he'd chosen to sit with Seamus during History of Magic. Unfortunately, that hadn't proven very fun for Ron when Seamus had leaned over to Ernie McMillian in Hufflepuff and whispered "Hey, Ernie, did you hear? Harry and Malfoy are calling a truce tonight!" He had caught Ernie's attention right away, and then proceeded to fill Ernie in with the details of where and when Harry and Draco would be meeting to call their truce.

By lunch though, several people had given Harry strange or calculating looks, but no one had actually come up to him and asked him. Harry had simply continued on as though nothing was happening and everyone around him was going crazy, this simply served to aggravate and confuse everyone even more. Harry and Hermione watched Ron at lunch, unbeknownst to themselves that they were also being watched. Draco sat at the Slytherin table, Blaise by his side, watching Harry and Hermione pull off such an astoundingly believable act of innocence. He smirked slightly, and then returned to eating his lunch.

"Hey, Draco, did you really mean what you were saying in class before? I mean, really, honestly?" Blaise surprised Draco with this question, but Draco smiled and answered it all the same.

"Of course I meant it, like I said, why would I lie? From what Hermione says, he really likes you." Draco smiled as Blaise blushed. He had confessed to Draco that he liked Harry in their third year, Draco remembered it clearly, they'd been mucking around, just experimenting. Draco had been with girls before, but Blaise hadn't. He'd gotten up to go over to his own bed and go to sleep when Blaise had asked him whether he preferred girls or boys. Draco had assured him that he only liked girls that way, and was just mucking around, but Blaise had gone on to tell Draco about how he liked boys, and one boy in particular.

Blaise hadn't ever hated Harry like the rest of Slytherin and had in fact always watched Harry curiously. Draco didn't need to question why Blaise would have fallen for Harry. Even he admitted that Harry was attractive, and he was one of the straightest boys in Hogwarts. He also agreed with Blaise, especially due to recent events, that Harry did have a very interesting personality.

The afternoon passed and soon they'd finished their last lessons, and everyone had flocked to the entrance hall, to see if the rumours were true. They were.

Harry stood at one end of the hall and Draco at the other. Draco had his wand drawn, but Harry simply stood before him, arms folded casually across his chest. Behind them respectively, were Hermione and Blaise. The students suddenly realised that only one of them had called a truce, and the other may not necessarily agree to it. All eyes were on Harry. He stepped forward.

"You got my note then." He kept his face perfectly straight, Draco's grip on his wand tightened. Harry smiled inwardly, praising god that Draco was such a strong character and had caught on and decided to expertly play his part. Hermione gripped Harry's arm in act, as Draco stepped forward. Blaise stepped forward with Draco; he looked at Harry for a moment before looking away. Hermione didn't take her eyes off Draco.

"I got it, but what I don't understand, Potter," He spat the name, much as he had for the majority of their younger years. "Is why you would stoop so low as to trying to get me to call a petty truce. What did you have in mind? To kill me while I was sleeping? Get close to me to try and figure out what Voldemort is up to? Try and gain control over Slytherin? I'd have to say that everything I've just mentioned is pretty pathetic, wouldn't you all agree?" He turned to his fellow Slyhterins, who agreed noisily, cheering as Draco took a few more steps menacingly forward. He smirked at Harry, who simply unfolded his arms and took a few steps of his own.

"Malfoy, you disappoint me. Why do you have to over analyse everything? Why can't you just accept it for what it is? I'm simply sick of fighting, and thought it'd would be a lot easier, much more convenient and maybe even a little fun if we became friends." Harry smiled this time, and everyone in the entrance hall held their breath as the two boys stood, Draco with his wand in hand, Harry unarmed.

The hall was silent. It didn't even sound like anyone was breathing. The entire hall had their eyes focused on Draco, waiting for his response. He stood, still as he could, eyes fixed on Harry, glare unrelenting. "How, Potter, on the face of this planet, do I know I can trust you?" He hissed. Harry almost faltered under his glare.

"I guess you don't. But I thought you would have known me better than that, like you've already said, why would I stoop so low? Why would I go out of my way to be your friend for the sake of some plan? If I had something in mind, why not just use a curse? A spell? A potion? Something to _make_ you be my friend, _make_ you do what I wanted. I'm not this petty. I only stand before you now to offer you my friendship. To offer you a partnership. Just imagine what we could be if we worked together, Draco? Imagine what we could accomplish. You offered me friendship in our first year, I turned you down. I'm sorry I did that. But now here's another chance, so, what do you say?"

Draco was quiet for a long time. He lowered his wand and looked to be seriously considering Harry's offer. Harry had made a very good speech, he had to admit, and as friends, himself leading Slytherin and Harry, Gryffindor, they would certainly be a pair to mess with. Finally, Draco placed his wand back into his pocket. He studied Harry for a moment and then he held out his hand. "Ok, you hold a very well grounded argument. I'm impressed. Though I may not trust you right away, I do concur that we would work better on the same team. You're on, Harry." He smirked, and his smirk turned into a smile as Harry took his hand in his own and shook it. Harry then proceeded into the Great Hall for dinner, and the rest of the school followed.

It soon became common knowledge that Harry and Draco were friends. They sat together, they studied together, and they spent weekend together, undoubtedly, Blaise and Hermione were always in toe of the two. It was a bright Saturday morning about two weeks after the truce, when the four were sitting out in the grounds when Harry asked the question that had been weighing on all four minds. "So, when are you two going to start telling people you're dating? Now that the four of us being friends is public knowledge..."

Draco and Hermione looked at each other. "I guess we could tell them whenever, or, we could just start acting like a couple in public, without actually telling everyone." Draco mused, Hermione smiled and nodded. "What about you, Harry? When are you gonna find someone?"

Harry looked at Hermione, then Draco. "Well, I kind of already have, I just haven't spoken to them about it yet." He glared at Hermione and Draco laughed. Harry turned slightly red. He figured that seeing as he was friends with Blaise now, he could confide in him. "Just for the record, I'm gay." He said, looking at Blaise who smiled.

"Wow, you really are trusting." He laughed lightly. "Don't worry Harry, your secret is safe with me. I'm gay as well." It was Blaise's turn to go red, and he did more so than Harry. What Harry didn't know, was that Draco had told Blaise that Harry liked him. But he wasn't sure if maybe Hermione had told Harry that he liked him too, from the look on Harry's face, though, she hadn't. Harry smiled as well, now.

"Well, that's convenient." Harry said, not really sure what else to say. "Wow." And he laughed. Blaise joined in. The four sat by the lake, not talking for a while, Hermione had moved around to lay on Draco's lap, while Harry laid on his back on the grass, next to Blaise who sat beside him.

"What do you think the rest of the school actually thinks of this?" Draco suddenly asked. Harry sat up and looked at him.

"Well, I know for a fact that Ron actually hates us now. Well, he's saying he does anyway. I'm not so sure as to whether he actually 'hates' us. But he's not impressed. I don't blame him, after all, essentially, he lost his best friend and his girlfriend in one hit. But the Hufflepuffs think it's not too bad, the Ravenclaws are alright, the Gryffindors though, they're a little suss. They have mentioned though that they've noticed a very big change in you since you've started hanging out with me. And for the better." Harry laughed, so did Hermione. Blaise smiled and Draco scrunched his nose up.

"I don't want to lose too much of my reputation," He muttered, "But I sure am having a hellova lot more fun with you guys than I ever did with the rest of the Slytherins. It'd be so much cooler if we were all in the same house." Draco pondered. Harry wasn't so keen on that idea, he thought it might certainly be easier to be with someone in a different house, not only would it probably be better to be away from then sometimes, rather than see them 24/7, but the sneaking around to be together is also a lot more fun. He sighed, he couldn't say anything to Blaise.

"No. It's better this way." Harry said simply.

"I agree." Blaise said. And Hermione nodded as well. Draco shrugged.

"Ok, you guys win. It'd still be cool though." All four of them laughed. Draco put his arms around Hermione as she lay in his lap, and started stroking her hair. There wasn't anyone around the grounds, but if they saw he didn't really care. Hermione sighed contentedly and took one of his hands in hers. She played with it for a while, studying it.

Then she watched Harry and Blaise lying side by side, and thought to herself that they really would make a cute couple.

Later that night in the common room, Hermione pulled Harry into an empty corner and sat him down. "Harry, why didn't you say anything to Blaise? It was the perfect opportunity!" She whispered. He looked up at her. Was she serious? Was he just supposed to come out and say something? Like what?

"Herm, What the hell was I supposed to say? I'm not like that, you know me..." She looked down at him.

"Yes, I do know you. And I know you want Blaise. And I know he wants you. So go for it." Harry stared up at her, his expression questioning her honesty. She nodded. "It's true, Harry, he's crazy over you."

Harry looked back down at the wall in front of him and smiled. That night he lay in bed, piecing together what he could say to Blaise when he eventually worked up the guts to talk to him about it.

Hermione, however, couldn't stop thinking about Draco, and had started thinking of ways with which she could contact him during the night...

* * *

Well, I tried to make it as long as the first two, I really did, but 8 pages is just too much. I'm sorry!! But at least I'm updating, right? So really, you can't complain.

Any suggestions? Because they would be GREATLY appreciated. R & R Please!!

Cheers,

Sami.

Can you believe FF removed this story?! I've gone through and some of you might have noticed i totally revamped the first chapter and took out anything that seemed a little too much. Otherwise, I have NO FRIN CLUE as to why they would have removed it. $$&&


	3. The Book

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

Over the next few evenings, Hermione had spent her time out on the grounds looking through books and jotting down notes upon notes in a small notebook. Draco was often seen accompanying her. Though none of the students found it weird anymore to see Draco and Hermione together, seeing them spend so much time together without the company of Harry or Blaise was becoming a little suspicious. In the meantime, Harry and Blaise were spending a lot of time together as well.

Hermione had pulled out every book she could find on magical communication. She'd covered enchanting items; mind charms, potions – nothing she found would work within the Hogwarts grounds without breaking school rules. She couldn't apparate in the school grounds, and she certainly couldn't just go marching down to Draco's room. Perhaps they'd just have to stick to making times to meet and sneaking around the castle. But then, that in itself broke several school rules. Hermione sighed and put her quill down, rubbing her eyes. Draco rubbed her back and then moved around behind her to give her a back massage. Hermione moaned quietly as he rubbed her sore shoulders.

"I can't think of anything else." She sighed, as Draco continued rubbing her shoulders. She buried her face in her hands. "This is impossible." She mumbled. Draco reached around from behind her and took her face out of her hands. She turned her neck to look at him and smiled.

Ron stood on the steps to the entrance hall, glaring down at the two figures sitting by the lake. He looked about ready to kill someone, if not himself. Harry stood behind him, not sure if he should say anything or not. Just as he was about to, Ron turned around and ran, almost headlong into Harry, but missed him and fumbled. He disappeared around the corner and a very confused looking Blaise appeared. Harry smiled as the brunette stopped where he was standing and looked down to where Hermione and Draco where sitting.

"They look happy, don't they?" He mused. Harry smiled and nodded. "Come on, lets go sit with them." Harry followed Blaise down to the lake. Hermione greeted them while Draco played with her hair.

"So, are you going to tell me what you've been up to yet?" Harry asked Hermione, she sighed and wriggled around in Draco grasp for a moment. Once she was comfortable, she decided to give Harry an answer.

"We're trying to find a way that we can use to communicate with each other, or to visit each other in the evenings, some way that we wont get caught, wont be seen..." It seemed to hit Hermione the second Harry's lips curled into a smirk. She leapt up and hugged him. "Oh Harry, it's perfect!" And with that she grabbed his hand and pulled him all the way to the library, leaving a very confused Draco and Blaise behind.

Harry and Hermione spent the better part of next three weeks in the library, searching through book after book. They refused to tell Draco and Blaise what they were looking for, claiming that if they could find out how to do it, it would be more fun as a surprise. They knew that if they couldn't find it in a book, then Lupin would teach them, or would at least know where they could find the information on how to do it. They wrote to him one evening in November, and continued searching the library in the meantime.

They received Lupin's reply three days later. Harry spilt cereal all over himself desperate to get the letter and read it straight away. He pulled it gently off Hedwig's leg and gave her some sausage before letting her fly back to the owlery. He unrolled the parchment and held so that Hermione could read it too.

_H & H,_

_There was only one book in the Hogwarts library that could show you how to become an animagus. Unfortunately, it no longer resides there. Though your reasons for becoming animagi are beyond me, I wont sit here and warn you of the dangers, or lecture you and tell you not to do it, because I know that you will simply go ahead and do it anyway. So I will help you. I will meet you on the next Hogsmede weekend at the three broomsticks. 11am. I'll bring the book._

_R.J.L._

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and grinned broadly. They headed off to their first class talking excitedly. When Draco and Blaise caught up with them, Draco asked them what the letter was all about. They explained that they had the solution to their problem, but still wouldn't tell them exactly what they had in mind. They also told them that they wouldn't be going with them to the next Hogsmede weekend, as they had to meet someone who would be helping them out. Draco and Blaise were disappointed, but understood.

The next Hogsmede weekend was two weeks away, and in the meantime, Hermione and Draco began plotting ways to get Harry and Blaise together. They were both too frightened to simply do something. Hermione and Draco had taken to spending time in the third classroom down from the potions room, but had come close, a few times too many, to being caught by Snape. They were becoming desperate for somewhere to meet and a way to get there without being caught. It had gotten harder to sneak around the castle since Voldemort had returned to power, the teachers and Filch had become utterly relentless.

Hermione sighed, realising that this was certainly going to be harder than they first thought it would be. Draco had suggested several stupid things: paying them, cursing them, making a love potion – "That's illegal, Draco!" – buying them presents from each other, writing love letters to them, locking them in the library. Hermione shook her head, it was pointless, they'd just have to leave it and hope for the best. But Harry was stubborn, so she really didn't think it would be going much of anywhere.

Two weeks later, Harry and Hermione waved goodbye to Draco and Blaise as they entered the Three Broomsticks and headed over to the corner where they took a seat and waited for Remus. He showed up a few moments later ad shouted them a round of butter beers.

"Now then, how have you two been?" He asked, smiling broadly. Harry and Hermione, who had yet to tell him about Draco, Blaise and Ron didn't smile quite so much.

"We've been ok..." Hermione started.

"But Ron's not speaking to us." Harry continued and crossed his arms childishly.

"Well, he has good reason..." Hermione went on.

"He does not! He could just get over it and be friends with Malfoy like the rest of us." Harry unfolded his arms.

"We've called a truce with Draco, in fact, he and Blaise are now our closest friends..." Hermione was talking to Remus again.

Remus laughed. "Whoa, slow down! So you two are friends with one of the most infamous Slytherins ever, and you have to question why Ron wont speak to you?" Remus shook his head. "I thought you were smarter than that, Harry. I'm slightly disappointed." He smiled. "Anyway, it's beside the point, I'm sure Ron will get over it soon enough. We're here to discuss this." He pulled a large book out and placed it on the table before them. The large gold lettering on the front cover read: _How to become an Animagus – it's easy!_ Harry laughed and Remus pushed the book towards him. "You shouldn't need much more help from me, the book is pretty straight forward, plus, you have Hermione. Anyway, It'll be interesting to see the animals that choose you." He winked, then got up and left the pub, waving behind him and calling to them that if they needed anything all they'd need to do is owl him.

Hermione grabbed the book before Harry had a chance to grab it for himself. She opened it up to the first page and skimmed over it. "Okay, let's get back up to the castle so we can get started right away, I have a feeling we should be reading this somewhere where no one will stumble in on us, we need to find Dray and Blaise first." Harry nodded, and the two got up from the table.

It didn't take them long to find Draco and Blaise. Hermione knew one of Draco's deepest, darkest secrets... He was a sucker for anything sweet. It took Harry and Hermione about 6 minutes to walk down to Honeydukes. They found Draco carrying far too much candy. Harry laughed at him and Hermione scowled, shaking her head. "We've got it, we want to go straight back up to school so we can start looking over it straight away without too many people around." She informed the Slytherins.

"Ok, just let me pay for this first." Draco mumbled from behind the huge pile of candy he was carrying. Harry and Blaise gave each other a look and rolled their eyes. Then the four of them headed back up to school.

"So where can we go where no one will know what we're up to?" Draco asked, almost whining. He'd been told he could have his candy later, and that this was more important. He had then resorted to sulking. This time it was Harry and Hermione's turn to give each other a look, they did so and both started smiling mischievously.

"Myrtle." They said in unison. Draco and Blaise looked at them strangely, before they remember that the boy in front of them was, after all, Harry Potter. They shrugged and followed the Gryffindors down to the second level girls bathroom which had been flooded in their second year, during all the happens of the Heir of Slytherin.

"Right, so we're going to learn how to sneak around the castle in a girls lavatory?" Blaise asked, reminding Harry and Hermione of Ron in their second year. Hermione frowned for a moment.

"Yep." Harry said cheerfully. "Don't worry, no one ever comes in here." He continued, mimicking Hermione. She glowered at him.

"And just why is that?" Draco asked pompously, the way he might have had he been speaking to Harry a year ago.

Harry and Hermione smirked and again, spoke it unison. "Moaning Myrtle." And with that said they pushed the door open and entered the bathroom.

"Oh! Harry! I thought you were never going to come back and visit me!" She flew down towards them and stopped when she saw Blaise and Draco. "Who're they?" She asked accusingly.

"Don't worry, Myrtle," Harry assured. "They're friends."

Draco eyes suddenly opened in realisation. "Myrtle? You're the mud... ahh, girl that the Basilisk killed over 50 years ago!" He cried, Hermione smiled at him for stopping himself from saying mudblood.

"So?" She snapped and flew back up to her spot in the corner of the roof. Harry looked and Draco and shook his head, the four of them laughed. Hermione took a seat in the centre of the walkway between the cubicles, she didn't really feel like sitting next to the entrance to the chamber of secrets, even though she'd never been down there.

"Alright." She said, opening the book as the boys gathered around her. Draco and Blaise both looked at the book in utter amazement.

"Animagi? We're going to learn to become animagi? That's so awesome, that's so totally cool!" Draco yelled. Hermione looked at him and he settled down. He and Blaise still had huge grins plastered to their faces as Hermione began to read from the first page.

"_As difficult as one may perceive it to be, becoming an Animagus is actually very simple. The first thing one needs to do is decipher what form they will be taking. In order to do this, a potion must be made; the ingredients and procedure to make the potion can be found on page XII. _

"_Once the potion is made, and the animal is known, one must then learn how to grasp the frame of mind of the particular animal – this can be done by looking up the animal in this book. The animal habits, mannerisms and thought patterns are found on pages LVII to MMXCIV. If you are a less experienced witch or wizard, it may help to eat foods similar to that your animal enjoys, for example, if your animagi form has chosen that of a rabbit, you may eat a lot of carrots, or if your form is a rodent, you might eat a lot of nuts."_

"Well, that certainly does sound easy." Harry interrupted. But if it's really that easy then why are the laws so strict about becoming an animagi? Why don't you just have to sit a test, like when you learn how to apparate?" He looked at Hermione quizzically.

"Well, I'm assuming there can be mix ups with the process." Hermione stated before continuing to read from the book. "_A word of warning:; _See, Harry. _One who does not know their true self, should not engage in this course of action, it could result in one becoming trapped permanently in animagi form. One must have someone close to them, whom they trust greatly, to be present whilst engaging in the process of transformation. In the event that one can not change back whilst they are learning to transform, the person who has agreed to be present must talk to them, reminding them of this that will help them remember who they are." _

She turned the page and saw that the next few pages all had diagrams on them with short decriptions underneath. They basically showed the process of transformation. She flicked forward a few pages until she reached page XII. The potion looked simple enough, Hermioen read aloud:

"_This potion will be used for two purposes. The first being to decipher ones animagi form; the second to initiate the process. You will need two small caldrons as well as one large one._

_Ingredients:_

_Shrivelfig_

_Daisy roots_

_Fluxweed_

_Lacewing flies_

_Asphodel_

_Ginger roots_

_Monkshood_

_One large length of prachment_

_Blood of individual undertaking procedure, 4 drops_

_Procedure:_

_Chop ingredients finely and place altogether in large caldron without blood. _

_Add water and stir well._

_Set on high heat for approximately 1 hour._

_Separate potion into two even amounts in small caldrons._

_Add blood (2 drops to each caldron)_

_Let potion sit for 20 minutes._

_Once potion has cooled, pour one caldron onto parchment._

_The liquid will move to form a detailed shape of the animal. _

_(If unsure of exact animal, picture references can be found on pages LVII to MMXCIV)_

_Do not move parchment until liquid has dried into a wax like state._

"Well, that does seem easy enough. "Hermione stated, after reading out the procedure of the potion. "But how are we going to get all the ingredients now that Filch has four extra cats roaming around?" She queried, looking at the three boys.

"Well, that's easy." Draco said. "I take them from Snape's office." He smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Never underestimate the power of Draco Malfoy." And with that he stood up and moved toward the door.

"Wait a minute, where are you going?" Harry asked him from where he was still seated on the floor next to Blaise.

"To get the ingredients, duh." And with that he strutted out of the bathroom.

"Well, I guess that leaves us to go and fetch the caldrons and some parchment." Harry said, also standing, Blaise stood beside him. Hermione nodded and shooed them off before she opened the book and started reading about the procedure of transformation. It seemed far too simple.

All they had to do, once they knew what their animal was, was find something that distinctly related to their animal, if not the fur or a blood sample of it, and add it to the remaining potion, then, after letting the potion simmer for another half and hour, they simply had to drink their designated potion. Once they'd taken the potion, they simply had to think about being the animal and they would transform. It would obviously be more difficult in the beginning, but once they'd managed the first few transformations and had experienced what it was like to be the animal, it should become easier and easier to transform.

Hermione sat, reading over some lighter, not so important details about being an animagi until the boys returned with the caldrons, parchment and ingredients, she was impressed that Draco had managed to get everything so quickly and easily. They decided that they would do one potion at a time, and that Harry would go first.

"But what if something goes wrong?" He asked, insulted that just because he was Harry Potter he had to do all the dangerous stuff first. He sighed and agreed, letting Hermione prick his finger and take four drops of his blood. She put a stopper in the top of the tube and placed it beside her on the floor next to the other ingredients. She then started finely chopping everything else.

An hour and a half later, Hermione had two beakers of ready potion. She took one and handed it to Harry who looked extremely apprehensive, even for the boy who lived. He took the beaker and looked at the sheet of parchment spread out in front if him. Then he took a breath and he poured the liquid onto the parchment.

At fist it didn't look like it was doing anything, until it started to swirl around slowly. As it got faster it started changing colours, going through almost every colour known to modern man before it stopped at black. A dark as night, jet-black - The exact colour of Harry's hair. The mixture stopped swirling and moved to form a detailed picture, all four of them leaned forward to see what it was.

On the parchment before them, was a full colour picture of a Black Leopard, with bright green eyes, residing on a tree branch. The leopard yawned and closed it's eyes. Harry stared at it in wonderment. "Wow." He though about being a leopard, and though, a little obnoxiously, that it fitted perfectly with his fun, playful personality. But how was he going to find something distinctly leopard-ish to use in the potion? He'd have to ask Hermione later, who had in the mean time started chopping up her own vegetables.

"You know, it probably would be easier if the three of us did them all together." She said to Draco and Blaise. Harry nodded and volunteered to go and get more caldron's, Blaise went with him.

Once they were gone, Draco moved around behind Hermione and put his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck softly. She smiled and turned to face him, placing her arms around his neck and kissing his mouth. They stayed like that for several minutes, before Draco broke the kiss and looked at her.

"What do you think my animal will be?" He asked her.

"I'm not sure," She replied, laying her head on his chest. "If it's anything like your mind, you'll be some smart, funny, slightly fluffy animal, like, maybe, a chimp! But if it judges you by your heart..." Hermione smirked and Draco knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Nope, there's just noooo way." He said, going slightly red. Hermione giggled and continued chopping up the ingredients to make three more potions.

Harry and Blaise returned as Hermione finished chopping and an hour and a half later there were three more potions sitting before them in 6 beakers, which Hermione had charmed to read their names, so as not to mix the potions up. "Ok, who's next then?" Harry proclaimed, rolling out a sheet of parchment. Draco looked at Blaise who shrugged and took one of his beakers, pouring it slowly onto the parchment. The mixture did the same as Harry's, swirling in a mix of colours, finally settling on a mix of dirty brown and dark brown, very similar to Blaise's hair. He looked confused as the image took a similar shape to Harry's.

"Oh my." Hermione said, flicking through some pages.

"What?" Blaise asked, worried by Hermione's tone. She looked up.

"You and Harry are the same species, but a different breed. It means your spirits are very closely connected. By the way, your animal is a Clouded Leopard." Harry and Blaise looked at each other before they looked back at Hermione, she took her beaker and poured.

This time the liquid didn't swirl around the parchment, but split into several different blobs, each a different colour, which chased each other around the parchment until they all ran headlong in the middle of the parchment, and melted into a picture. A small Brown Fox stood on the parchment looking up at them; its tail was extremely bushy. Hermione smiled, it seemed to fit almost perfectly, foxes were quick, witty and very, very intelligent, as well as playful and curious.

The three turned and looked at Draco. He smiled nervously and picked up one of his beakers, then, hesitating a little, he poured it onto the parchment. It split similar to Hermione's, but then all the pieces started to spin around the parchment forming a whizzing circle of blurred colour. As the colours started to slow, they melted into a picture.

Draco stared at it in horror. Harry cracked up laughing. Hermione stared at Draco wide-eyed. Blaise sat with his mouth open like a goldfish...


	4. The Zoo

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

Draco felt like he was about to pass out. His face was burning and he felt sick to the stomach. The little, pure-white ferret blinked at him from the parchment. He couldn't believe it was happening. Well, at least it would be easy when it came time for him to transform, he already knew what it was like to be a ferret. He cringed.

Hermione reached over and placed her hand on his thigh, he placed his hand over hers. She smiled and he smiled and then they both collapsed on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. Harry and Blaise looked at each other, still not sure if they'd get their heads bitten off if they laughed as well. Harry had just gotten over his first laughing fit, and was having some trouble keeping the rest at bay. He looked about ready to explode. Blaise was trying hard not to laugh as well, but he found Harry a lot more entertaining than Draco's dilemma.

So the four of them now knew their animals. A Black Leopard, A Clouded Leopard, A Brown Fox and A White Ferret. Not really an odd bunch, but not a very ordinary one either. Hermione had already started thinking about where they were going to get the final ingredients for potions, which would help them learn to transform. The four had decided that they would all go to one of their houses for the Christmas holidays, that way, the four of them could visit the zoo and then spend the rest of the holidays learning to transform together. The only question, then, was whose house.

"Well it definitely wont be mine." Harry protested, scrunching his nose up, "Besides, they'd be happier if I never went back there." He folded his arms over his chest and let the other three decide.

"Well, I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind – "

"Mine would."

"Well of course they would, Draco – "

"Shut up, Blaise."

"No. What about my place?"

"Well..."

"It's big enough. Plenty of rooms. Basically Malfoy Manner without the Malfoy's. Beside, you know my mother, she'd love Hermione, and the fact that you finally got a girlfriend, not to mention how much she likes you, Harry." He turned to look at Harry, who blushed slightly. "My mother is one of those who chooses not to believe everything she reads. So she goes by what people tell her, and, well, she's friends with a lot of people who like you, Harry, against my fathers will of course, but she was a Gryffindor." Harry blushed even more. So it was decided – they were going to Blaise's for the holidays. Harry could barely hold his excitement. Not to mention that Blaise lived in Surrey, so he would even get to stop past his Uncle's house and pick up come clean clothes for the holidays. He didn't need to write to his Aunt and Uncle to tell them he wasn't coming, because he never went home for the Christmas Holidays, but he wrote to his Uncle anyway, advising him that he would be coming past to get some clothes. He had Hedwig deliver it to the post office in London.

When the first day of the holidays finally came, Hermione bade goodbye to the girls in her dormitory and headed down to meet the boys in the entrance hall. Draco took her hand as she caught up with them and they made their way down to the coaches that would take them to the train. They had arranged for Blaise's mother to pick them up from the train station.

The train ride was almost uneventful, until Hermione and Draco decided that they both needed to go to the bathroom and disappeared for a couple of hours. When they returned Harry and Blaise watched them as they walked in and sat down, purposely making them feel uncomfortable. Eventually they got bored and went back to their conversation. Draco turned to Hermione.

"Whoever would have thought that we'd end up friends, the four of us, it's really bizarre when you thin about it." He said, basically out of nowhere. Hermione had been having similar thoughts lately, and had also been worried about Ron. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and turned her attention back to the present, they'd arrived at Kings Cross Station.

Mrs Zabini was a slim woman with long black hair. She wore a hideously bright summer dress, well, that was Draco's opinion, and carried a slightly oversized handbag with such a long strap the bag tapped at her knees as she walked. She rushed over to them as they hopped off the train and took Blaise in her arms. "Oh, dear, I'm so glad to see you. Hello Draco, how are you, darling? And these are your new friends, I see. Hermione, Harry, I'm delightfully pleased to meet you." She took each of their hands in turn. Hermione thought to herself that she was a little too friendly, but let her take her hand anyway. They all followed her back to the large dark green Cadillac waiting in the parking lot and climbed in.

"Nice wheels, Blaise." Harry joked. Blaise blushed from the front seat. They reached the Dursley's not long after. "Great, well, here we go." Harry muttered as he climbed out of the car.

"I'll just wait here, dear." Mrs Zabini said dreamily from the drivers seat and turned the engine off, Harry nodded and thanked her.

"Wait, Harry, do you want me to come up?" Blaise's questioned surprised Harry. He stopped and turned to look back at Blaise who's stepped out of the car. Harry slowly started to nod.

"Sure, thanks Blaise." Blaise nodded in turn and followed Harry up to his uncle's door. "But let me warn you, my Uncle is the worst kind of muggle." Harry smirked and rang the doorbell. An annoyingly loud tune rang out through the house and Harry heard his Aunt bustling down the hallway to open the door. When she did, she frowned upon seeing Harry.

"Oh, it's you. Well, hurry up and get your things then." Harry nodded and stepped inside, Blaise followed.

"By the way, Aunt Petunia, this is Blaise Zabini, Blaise, my Aunt Petunia." Petunia scrunched her nose up at Blaise's name and smiled extremely fakely. Blaise smiled genuinely and followed Harry up the stairs. They were greeted at the top by Dudley. Harry sighed.

"Move Dudley." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Who's your friend?" Dudley teased. "He your boyfriend?" Harry had certainly had enough from Dudley. He glared at him, his hand gripping his wand.

"Yes, you got a problem? Now MOVE." Harry yelled. Dudley stared at him in horror, then looked at Blaise. Blaise had his mouth open, the same way he had when Draco's animal had revealed itself. He recovered quickly, then smiled at Dudley and shrugged, following Harry into his room. Harry shut the door behind him.

"Harry – "

"Don't say it. He's been like that since we were little kids." Harry interrupted, not wanting to have the discussion with Blaise in his bedroom at the Dursley's. Blaise frowned.

"No, I think I'll say it anyway," Blaise said, looking around Harry's room as he walked over and sat on the bed. "You said I was your boyfriend. That's not something people just say to make their cousins get out of the way." Blaise was smiling, and he noticed that Harry had turned bright red when he turned around. Harry opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Blaise had jumped up off the bed, crossed the room in three steps, grabbed Harry and kissed him.

Blaise's house was huge. There were enough bedrooms for them all to have their own, but Mrs Zabini insisted that Draco and Hermione share – "If you have separate rooms, you will just sneak into each others rooms all holidays anyway, so you might as well share and save the hassle." Draco and Hermione laughed as they took their bags into their room. Harry's room was down the hall from Draco and Hermione's and next to Blaise's.

By the time they'd settled in their rooms, which were lovely, Hermione had commented to Mrs Zabini, it was dinnertime, and the four of them made their way down to the dining room chatting excitedly. The dining room was enormous, at least a quarter of the size of the Great Hall. Harry and Hermione gaped at it in awe. In the far corner was a large, elaborately decorated Christmas tree, with presents littering the floor beneath it, the lights winding around it flashing elegantly. They sat down at the huge table.

"Mum, is Dad coming to dinner?" Blaise's tone sounded as though he already knew the answer.

"He's away on business." Was the only answer she gave him. He rolled his eyes and started eating, the others followed in suit.

The next day, the four of them woke early and got ready to go to the zoo. Hermione couldn't help but swoon over Draco in his navy blue short-sleeve button up shirt and jeans. She took a hold on his arm and didn't let go the whole way to the train station, Harry and Blaise found it quite funny. They were going to catch the train because Mrs Zabini had an important meeting and didn't have time to drive them; Blaise later explained that her important meeting was with her manicurist.

Draco had never been on a muggle train before. He'd been to Blaise's house plenty of times in the holidays, but he'd never had to catch muggle transport before. Hermione held his hand, promising him it would be ok and all the horrible muggles wouldn't bite. They bought their tickets and went to wait on the platform. Draco spent the whole time muttering about all the muggles - their ugly clothes, their obliviousness to everything. Harry, Hermione and, funnily enough, Blaise fit right in.

"Blaise, you really don't seem like someone who should be in Slytherin, you know?" Hermione said, letting go of Draco's hand to link her arm around his waist. Blaise nodded.

"I know, but, when I sat on that stool, the hat was telling me I would do very well in Gryffindor, I said I wanted to be in Slytherin with Draco, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The hat argued back, telling me that with loyalty like that I should definitely be in Gryffindor – But I wanted to be with Draco, so I'm a Slytherin, simple as that." He shrugged. Harry stared at him, his mouth open. "What?" Blaise asked, looking at Harry warily.

"You're kidding, right?" Blaise narrowed his eyes and shook his head, having no idea what Harry was on about. "I mean, the same thing happened to me, only, it was the other way around. The hat kept telling me I'd be perfect in Slytherin, that I had all the talents I needed and the passion to succeed, but I begged the hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin, only because I'd heard such bad things about it, so the hat put me in Gryffindor." It was Blaise's turn to stare wide-eyed. Then the two boys grinned.

Hermione noticed the grin shared by the two boys more than Draco did. She knew it meant more than what it seemed. She resolved to ask Harry about it later on at the zoo. In the meantime, as the train pulled up and the four of the climbed on board, she let her hand slide back down into Draco's, he squeezed it lightly and she smiled to herself. The train took 40 minutes to reach the London Zoo, where the four hopped off.

They had decided to make a day of it, instead of just visiting the four animals they needed. So they headed off to follow the trail that led around the zoo. They started with the nocturnal creatures. As they entered the dark, Draco felt Hermione's grip on his hand tighten considerably, he squeezed her hand again for reassurance, then let her hand go and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him, she put her own arms around his waist and snuggled closer to him, their steps in compete unison.

Harry and Blaise had wandered ahead and little, and, upon noticing that Hermione and Draco were getting mighty comfortable behind them Blaise spend up a little, urging Harry to keep up.

"What's up? Why are we going so fast? We'll lose them." He questioned Blaise, who smiled in the dark; it was just light enough for Harry to see it.

"We'll wait for them outside the nocturnal enclosure. Harry, I needed to talk to you about yesterday morning." Harry stopped walking, Blaise stopped as well. Looking back, he couldn't see Hermione and Draco anywhere.

Hermione had taken a hold of Draco's hand and stopped walking. Draco stopped when he felt her tugging his hand and turned to face her. She looked beautiful. He told her so and she giggled, then she reached up and took a hold of his collar, pulling him into a romantic, passionate kiss. He let his arms embrace her and pull her body closer to his. She stopped kissing him and looked up into his eyes, he smiled at her. She then pushed him up against the wall, he stopped smiling for a moment, shocked by her sudden action, then started smiling again as he pulled her up close to him and started kissing her once more.

Harry had also found him self dragged into a corner. Blaise stared at him for a moment before talking. "Were you serious?"

Harry looked at him quizzically for a moment, then he nodded. Before he knew what was happening, Blaise was kissing him once more.

Draco stopped kissing Hermione and kissing her forehead, stepped away from the wall, she smiled. "Sorry," He said apologetically, "But you can't go getting me too excited in public, or we'll both be in trouble." He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and hugged her close to him. "And we don't want to leave Harry and Blaise waiting. She giggled harder and they continued around the corner. "Then again, maybe we should head off on our own, seeing as Harry and Blaise seem terribly busy." He smirked. Hermione was looking at him, confused, before she followed his line of sight and noticed Blaise and Harry, she let out and excited squeal.

Harry and Blaise stopped kissing and looked up, both boys flushing furiously red. "About bloody time, mate." Draco exclaimed, slapping Blaise on the back. "And not a bloody bad catch, if I may say so myself." Draco winked at Harry who blushed even more, if it was at all possible. Blaise beamed stupidly, and then he and Harry laughed.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around Harry's neck and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I knew you could do it. Congratulations." She said, smiling. Harry thanked her.

"In the mean time, what have _you two_ been up to?" Blaise asked, elbowing Draco in the arm.

"Same, same." Draco said, smiling lopsidedly.

After they'd left the nocturnal enclosure, the cool, crisp winter air had helped Harry loose his blush and helped Draco, well, calm down a little, and the four of them decided to get something to eat, even though it was early. As they sat there eating their hot chips, which were smothered in way too much tomato sauce, Harry decided to voice something he knew at least Blaise was thinking as well.

"You know, I hope the transformation is easy, because I don't really fancy eating raw meat for the next few weeks." Blaise laughed and agreed wholeheartedly, Hermione and Draco also agreed.

"I can't believe of all the animals – "

"Draco, maybe it was a sign when Crouch turned you into a ferret, maybe he just used a spell which changes a person in the animal that they're linked with."

"You just need a logical answer for everything, don't you, 'Mione?" He winked and then hugged her. She ley her head on his chest and put on of her legs over the bench so that she was straddling it, leaning back against him. "Well, lets get what we came here for, the sooner we get back, the sooner we can learn the transformations and hopefully be animagi by the time we return to school."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. Then she got up and headed over toward a big sign. Draco followed her over, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the back of her neck.

"This is gonna be really hard." Blaise said to no one in particular.

"What is?" Harry asked, turning away from the couple to look at him.

"This," He pointed to Harry then himself, "Us. It's gonna be hard, we can't be like that in public, so open and carefree and – "

"Why not?" Harry asked, raising one eyebrow. "The only person stopping you is yourself." Blaise nodded, he agreed, but they both knew it still wouldn't be easy.

Hermione had located the whereabouts of all four animals, and they headed first to the big cats enclosures. "Ok, so how exactly are we going to do this? Just walk up and rip their fur out?" Harry asked Hermione as they approached the leopards.

"We talk to them." Draco said before Hermione could answer.

"What?" She asked, walking up to where Draco was standing next to the clouded leopard's cage.

"We just tell them what we want, they're animals, they're much more intelligent than we take them for, you know. If we just ask, they'll understand." He seemed dead set in simply talking to the cats. Hermione thought it over for a moment. But Draco didn't wait for her to finish; he walked over and called the leopard down. She hopped down off her rock and walked slowly over to the edge of her cage, letting him stroke her spotted fur.

"Hello Beautiful," She purred loudly, "I have a favour to ask, Blaise over here is learning to become an animagi, and he's a clouded leopard, just like you, lucky boy, isn't he? We need something distinctly related to you for his potion, can you help us?" She purred loudly again and stood up, rubbing her back along the wire fence, she stopped and turned, facing Draco and nosing the fence where some of her fur had rubbed off. Draco turned around and smirked at Hermione, who without expression, walked over to join Draco by the cage. She removed a mall plastic zip bag from her own bag and took the fur, placing it inside and zipping the bag shut. She then placed it back into her bag.

Draco patted her again and thanked her, before they headed over to find the Black Leopard. Draco found it a little harder to get the Black Leopards attention, as he was busy basking in the warm afternoon sun. Hermione commented that if all leopards were this stubborn, then it really was the perfect choice for Harry. Harry crossed his arms and claimed that he wasn't that stubborn, he then refused to talk to Hermione.

Draco, after final coaxing the leopard down, managed to get him to let him scratch him behind the ear, when Draco removed his hand he sprinkled the hairs from the giant cat into the bag Hermione held out for him. Blaise stroked the giant cat as they turned to leave, thinking of how magnificent Harry would look once he'd learnt to transform.

The fox wasn't as eager to help as the cats were, he decided it was a game and every time he got close enough for Draco to touch him, he'd run away again at lighting speed, his snout curled up in what almost looked like laughter. Draco only got the furs by chance, when he'd grabbed for the fox and managed to get it's tail, the fox got away, but Draco got the fur he needed, he gave it to Hermione who slipped it into her bag.

Finally they came to the small rodent enclosure. Draco shivered as they walked in. "You want me to do this one, Dray?" Blaise asked, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco reached down and took Hermione's hand, nodding to Blaise. Blaise walked over to the ferret cage. "Hey there little guys. You wanna help out a friend?" The little ferrets turned around and looked at Blaise quizzically, then hey skipped over to the front of the cage and sniffed his fingers inquisitively. He patted each one of them on the head and explain Draco's situation. One of the little white ferrets turned around and stuck his tail out of the cage so that Blaise could pull out the needed fur, he handed it to Draco who then went over to the cage and bent over so that he could look in.

The ferrets were quite happily running around, playing with each other and the toys they'd been given, they were very quick and agile. Draco smiled; maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be a ferret after all.

They saw the chimps and orang-utans, the lions and the tigers, the elephants, the seals and the snakes before they left. Harry had a little chat with his friend the python who'd he'd accidentally freed the holidays before he found out he was a wizard. Unfortunately they'd caught her and put her back in her cage, Harry explained to her that he wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school or else he'd free her again. She didn't mind, she said, she was getting used to the cage. Harry smiled before he followed the others back to the train station.

Back at Blaise's, the four of them went down to Blaise's room and took their potions down from the shelf where Hermione had stored them because it was cool. They each took their allocated potion and added the fur.

"Ok then, this is it." Draco said, holding up his beaker. "Cheers."

The other three held up their own beakers and clinked them against each other. "Cheers!"

They drank the potion and, one after the other, looked as though they were going to be sick. They dropped the beakers and ran to the bathroom. Luckily, they didn't throw up, and the nausea passed quite quickly.

"Do you guys feel ok?" Hermione asked and the three boys nodded. They then turned the book to the page of the Black Leopard. Hermione read the description aloud, and Harry closed his eyes under Hermione's instruction, visualising himself roaming through the jungle, prowling, marauding. He imagined himself with large, strong paws padding soundlessly through the foliage, his strong tail whipping the leaves behind him as he walked. Her heard his name being called...

Harry opened his eyes when he heard Hermione calling his name. "Harry. My God. You did it."

* * *

Ok, so there's another chapter. This is actually gathering some plot. Hmm. Anyway, I've noticed I'm kind of slanting toward the whole Harry and Blaise relationship, I'm sorry, I just prefer writing Harry, I guess. But there should be another good scene with Herm and Dray in the next chapter, so come back soon! Oh, and a review would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Sami.

Miaow.


	5. The Kiss

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

The great black cat sat in the centre of Blaise's room, his brilliant green eyes taking in his surroundings much the way a young child would. Harry looked down. He did indeed have large, black, furry paws. He looked behind him; a large black tail lay on the floor. He thought about moving it – it moved. 'Awesome' he thought to himself, then he stood and walked gracefully over to Hermione and licked her cheek. She giggled. Draco crawled over and stroked Harry, scratching him behind the ears; Harry decided it felt good and leaned in, urging Draco not to stop. When he did, Harry made his way over to Blaise.

"Harry, you're beautiful." Blaise whispered, wrapping his arms around the large cats neck. Harry purred and licked Blaise's neck.

"Ok, Harry, now try and change back." Hermione ordered, her expression anxious. The leopard nodded, then sat down again. Harry closed his eyes. He thought about Hogwarts, about the three people sitting around him, about quidditch and flying…

"Wow." Harry said aloud, once he had changed back. "That was so unbelievably awesome." Harry couldn't stop smiling. He raced over and hugged Blaise. "You try."

"What did you think about?" Blaise sat down as Harry stood up and looked at him innocently. Harry patted him on the head.

"I just thought about roaming through the jungle…" Harry trailed of, his eyes distant, remembering what it was like to feel like he owned the world, to be free to run and play and hunt, to bask in the sun, to... Blaise snapped him back to reality when he started pulling on his pants with his sharp teeth. Harry looked down at the Clouded Leopard. He had an absolutely dazzling coat, the design was unbelievably beautiful and he was slightly smaller than Harry had been as a leopard, he came up to Harry's waist. Harry stroked his head and neck as Blaise rubbed up against his legs, purring.

He was joined by a very curious little fox and a rather depressed looking ferret. The fox disappeared and Hermione sat in its place, beaming. Harry smiled. Hermione picked Draco up and snuggled into his soft fur, kissing his nose. The ferret jiggled a little, and then licked her cheek, she giggled and placed him back on the floor where he ran around them in circles, being chased by the rather pouncy Clouded Leopard. Harry and Hermione laughed as Blaise chased Draco around the room. They looked so carefree; Harry couldn't help but forget about everything that was pulling at the back of his mind.

A week later, the four of them sat in the living room together in the evening – Blaise's mother had gone out, again – talking about the events of the day. They couldn't believe that the transformation had been so simple. They had been working on it for the past week. Harry suddenly thought of something.

"Hermione, how come we aren't getting in trouble for underage magic outside of Hogwarts for doing this?" He asked, remembering all the times he'd gotten in trouble for using magic while he wasn't at school. Hermione had looked at him as though he was daft.

"It isn't detectable magic, Harry. We aren't using our wands are we? Why do you think anyone who wants to become an Animagi has to register?" Harry replied with an "oh, yeah…" And went back to looking at the fire.

"It's really unbelievable, isn't it? It's a pity we can't go telling people, I'd love to be able to tell people… It was so easy, though, wasn't it?" Said Blaise, excitedly.

"Well, it does say it's not as hard and it seems, and we _did_ have the fur in our potions, that certainly would have made them stronger, not to mention that we _are_ the smartest students in Hogwarts." Hermione turned red, she hated bragging about being intelligent, but it was the truth. Draco smiled at her and pulled her into an embrace. She smiled and then yawned. "Anyways, the smartest students in Hogwarts are tired, so they're going to retire. Goodnight." Hermione said, getting up and patting Harry and Blaise on the heads.

"Night 'Mione, don't do anything we wouldn't do!"

"That goes for you too, Draco!" Blaise added and the two got up and disappeared into Blaise's room. Draco raised an eyebrow as he put his arm around Hermione and they walked into their own room down the hall.

"So, it's still early, what do you wanna do?" Draco asked, letting his hand slip down to her waist.

"I know what _you_ want to do, Mr. Malfoy." She said, moving to stand in front of him and shutting the door behind them as they entered the room, she then proceeded to unbutton her top, stopping when she reached the bed. Draco stopped in front of her. She reached up and took a hold of his collar, pulling him once more into a deep kiss.

Draco let his hands slide up the soft, bare skin of Hermione's stomach, before she pulled him down onto the bed and he landed above her, his arms holding him up on either side of her, he leant down and kissed her again. She removed her shirt entirely, and Draco lent down to place dozens of tiny kisses on her bare chest. She moaned quietly.

The two ebbed their way up the bed until Hermione's head was on the pillow. It was a huge bed, with a large, white canopy flowing down from the top of the four pillars. Draco moved up to kiss Hermione's mouth again. She kissed back hungrily, pulling Draco, as if they weren't already as close as they could be in their current position.

Draco ran his fingers through Hermione's hair, before rolling over so that Hermione was on top of him. She blushed and looked down at him, then proceeded to unbutton his shirt. He slipped it off, and pulled Hermione down onto him, shivering as their skin touched. They kissed again, and as they did, Draco proceeded to undo Hermione's bra, she squeaked quietly and then started kissing his neck, his chest, his stomach… before he knew it, Hermione had unbuckled his belt and was removing his pants. He didn't stop her, what was the point? He wasn't forcing anything on her, she was doing it all herself.

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt about what was inevitably about to happen. And the more he thought about feeling bad for what was inevitably about to happen; the more he thought about what it felt like to be one of the good guys. And the more he thought about what it felt like to be one of the good guys, the more he thought about how he must be shaming Slytherin, and the more he thought about shaming Slytherin, the more he thought he must be shaming his father. Good, was his final thought, as he lay back and let Hermione crawl up his body as she removed her skirt, letting it slink off behind her.

The next morning Draco left Hermione to sleep-in and strolled out of the room looking mightily happy with himself. He decided to head down to the gardens when one of the doors down the other end of the corridor shut and he found himself watching Harry, who strolled out of Blaise's room looking mightily happy with himself. Draco smirked and sidled over to stand beside him.

"Morning, Potter." He drawled, much the way he used to before He and Harry had become friends.

"Oh, Morning Draco." Harry said cheerily, completely ignoring Draco's return to his previous mannerisms. "Good night?" He asked the blonde bouncily.

"Yes, very good, in fact. And it seems you haven't had such a bad one yourself." He looked at Harry expecting him to react somewhat… well, to react.

"Yes, very good indeed." It was after this response that Draco noticed Harry's dreamy expression. He was barely paying attention to him at all. He had Blaise on the brain. Draco shook him a little. Nothing.

"Come on Potter, let's go get some fresh air." Harry nodded, still dreamily, and followed Draco down the large staircase and out into the garden. It was a rather large garden, but from playing there as a child, Draco knew his way around it well. They walked down the large stone steps that led down to the courtyard and crossed it, coming to a stop on the small, picturesque bridge that sat just above the small brook that ran through the Zabini property. "So, who ever thought it'd end this way, eh potter?"

"Yea, I know, it's weird, 'cause everyone always thought I'd end up with you." Harry said without thinking. He looked at Draco once he realised what he'd said and turned a fierce shade of red. Draco's cheeks had also turned a slightly less intense shade of red. The two boys stood, staring at each other for several minutes, before Draco cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak.

"Draco, wait – before you say anything, I want to tell you something." Harry took a deep breath, closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to find the right words to say whatever it was that was going through his head. A minute or so later, Harry opened his eyes. "I've been in love with you for a long time, since first year, actually. At first, I thought it was just an idol thing – you know, I looked up to you, wanted to be like you and all that – but then I started realising that I was dreaming about you, fantasising, I didn't want to be like - you, I _wanted_ you. I used to watch you whenever I had the chance; I hated fighting with you, more than anything. It hurt, so much. But around fourth year, I started to think that maybe you really did hate me. Maybe I really didn't have a chance with you and I just needed to get over it. I never did, I just shoved it away, in the back of my mind and went on trying to distract myself with other things, other people. I developed a crush on Blaise, having noticed him a fair bit whilst watching you – I do love Blaise, truly, and I couldn't be happier than I am with him. But I need you to know that I love you, I have for a very long time, and I most likely always will."

Harry hadn't spoken quickly, like one would had they wanted to get what they were saying out in the open and then run from it, he'd spoken quite normally, so that Draco had understood. The pain and longing in Harry's eyes, which had appeared when he'd started speaking had started to ebb away. Draco didn't know what to say, so he took a step so that he was standing next to Harry and put his arms around him. Harry buried his head into Draco's chest, and for a few minutes, neither of the boys moved.

When Draco let go of Harry and the two boys stepped away, Harry was relieved to see a smile on Draco's face. "Thank you." He managed, and Draco simply nodded. The two boys then moved away from the bridge and continued their walk through the gardens; it was, after all, a beautiful December morning. After about another twenty minutes, Draco decided he wanted to tell Harry something too. He stopped walking and Harry stopped next to him. Draco ran his hand through his hair, and noticed Harry look back over toward the water as he did so.

"Harry, you do know you're the best looking guy at Hogwarts, right? I mean, I don't think there's anyone in the entire school who doesn't love you, if not for your personality, then for your looks. Every one of them is a fan of yours, even the Slytherins. Trust me. I know." He chanced a look at Harry. He'd always told people he was purely attracted to girls, regardless of some of the activities he took part in, but he knew that was never totally truthful. He said it more to try and hide the truth from himself and his father than from others. He started walking again, and Harry watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was saying. Yes, Draco finally admitted to himself, perhaps I do kind of like guys. Alright I do, he said to himself, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he noticed Harry watching him. "What?" He asked worriedly.

Harry opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it, closed it, looked away, looked back at Draco, opened his mouth once more and then, before Draco knew what was happening, Harry had flung himself at him and was kissing him – there was a sudden crackle of magical energy and Draco found himself kissing back. He couldn't resist it. He'd always felt for Harry, just like Blaise had, but heaven forbid he should mention it, if his father had found out he wouldn't have lived to see another day. But since his father had stopped caring about what was happening in Draco's life, he had started to branch off. He started thinking about Hermione, and their night in the library. He knew why he'd done it – Hermione was close to Harry, he'd used her, and he felt horrible.

Draco genuinely cared about Hermione, he would go as far as saying he loved her, he just didn't think he loved her in a romantic way. But he didn't want to hurt her, and he didn't want to hurt Blaise, he didn't want to hurt Harry either, but no matter what he did now, he'd be hurting someone. He broke the kiss, the friction in the air suddenly disappeared, Draco dismissed it, simply telling himself he'd imagined it. He looked into Harry's eyes. "Harry, I – "

"Don't worry, I understand." Harry said smiling. "You wont hurt me, I'm with Blaise. It's fine. But thank you." He took Draco's hand in his own for a moment, then let it go and turned, walking back up to the house. Draco watched him go, watched him walk away. He would have had a chance. Harry had loved him, he still loved him, but Blaise had gotten him first, and Draco had to sit back and watch Harry with his best friend. He decided to give up on his walk and go and see if Hermione was awake.

He headed back up to their room, making a quick detour past the kitchens to take Hermione some breakfast. He arranged some crumpets, jam and tea on a tray and carried it up to the room. He didn't knock, but instead, he entered quietly and found her still sleeping. He sat on the end of the bed and watched her. She really had become beautiful since their first year, she'd managed to thin out her hair, it now sat straight down her back, long and shiny. The beautiful chestnut brown framed her face, her teeth were smaller now, from her letting Madam Pomfry fix them in fourth year after he himself had hit her with a jinx. He smiled and reached over to brush her hair off her face, she stirred.

As she woke and opened her eyes, she spotted Draco sitting on the end of the bed. "Good morning, Handsome." She said, sitting up against the beck of the bed.

"Morning, babe. Brought you some breakfast." He said, smiling as he produced the tray and placed it on her lap.

"Oh, have you eaten?" She asked, noticing the absence of a second tray. She started eating her crumpets and shrugged when Draco shook his head. He hadn't eaten, but he wasn't going to tell her what ha had been doing. What would happen if she found out? He knew Harry wouldn't tell her, so he guessed the secret was safe – though the truth was, he was more worried that he was going to tell her.

He sighed and crawled up the bed to lie on the spot next to Hermione and watched her ungracefully eating her crumpets. She stopped mid mouthful and looked down at him. "Whot?" She asked, not bothering to swallow her food.

"Nothing, just wanted to watch the most beautiful woman on earth gracelessly eating a couple of crumpets." He smiled charmingly and took her hand in his, still looking up at her from his head was on the pillow, his hair messed up, kind of like Harry's. She smiled down at him and, once she had swallowed her crumpet, she bent down and kissed him lovingly on the forehead. He closed his eyes and smiled, but inside he was screaming. He was a horrible person. He was a coward, a spineless, lying, sneaky, devious, deceitful, two-faced, insincere Slytherin. He put his hands to his face; he was starting to get a headache.

Jut as Hermione finished her crumpets, Blaise and Harry knocked and she beckoned them into the room. They entered, and Harry held something in his hand, the expression on his face was totally, and utterly dismal. He handed the parchment he held to Hermione, she took it and looked at the two boys before her before she read it. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Harry didn't say anything, he only pointed to the paper and then he and Blaise moved to the sofa in the corner and took a seat. Harry looked about ready to collapse, while Blaise had his arm around him in comfort. Draco couldn't look at them, he felt horrible for even thinking about taking Harry from Blaise, let alone what he'd actually done. He sighed and sat up to read the letter over Hermione's shoulder. He felt his heart sink when he saw the Hogwarts crest in the top corner and Dumbledore's neat, tiny handwriting. It read:

_Dear Misters Potter, Malfoy, Zabini and Miss Granger,_

_We have been informed by a close undercover agent that Voldemort has emerged from hiding. He has plans to rid the wizarding world once and for all of Mr. Harry James Potter. _

_We have gathered together the Order of the Phoenix and are meeting at Headquarters in three days. We require the four of you to return to Hogwarts within the next two days so that you may accompany myself and Professors McGonagall and Snape to headquarters. The train will be waiting for you and others who we have called to join us in hiding from tomorrow morning, the 16th of December at 11 am sharp. It will not leave until everyone called for is present._

_If there is a problem, please send word to us as soon as possible by your most direct means._

_Good luck and Good speed._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Hermione gripped the note in her hand. Her face had contorted into a look of pure fear and hatred. Draco placed his arms around her waist. Harry and Blaise joined them on the bed as Hermione's tears started to fall. Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione and Blaise took his hand with one of his and Draco's with his other. The four of them sat together, until Hermione cried herself to sleep and the three boys lay by her, not wanting to move.

The rest of the afternoon and the evening seemed to drag on incessantly. The four sat around the living room table while Harry and Draco had a good old competitive game of wizard's chess; Harry was winning.

"Alright," Said Draco, faking a yawn. "I can't take this anymore. I'm going to bed."

Harry huffed. "You're only going to bed because you're losing."

Draco turned to face him, stared at him for a few brief moments and then stalked upstairs. "Goodnight!" He called out behind him. Hermione bid Blaise and Harry goodnight also and followed Draco up the stairs and into their room. The usual giggling that accompanied them couldn't be heard.

"Do you think we'll be ok?" Harry asked, lacking his usual confidence that Dumbledore would hey them through. He knew the last few times that Voldemort had attacked that it would be ok, but this time… This time he just didn't have that feeling. He felt like everything was about to fall apart – and perhaps that's because it was, in many different ways. Blaise studied Harry for a moment, considering his question, before he answered.

"Well, we have two of the most powerful wizards of the age fighting on our side." Blaise said. "Not to mention Dumbledore."

It took a moment for what Blaise had said to sink in. "What a minute," Harry stuttered, "Two wizards? And if you haven't included Dumbledore, then… Who _are_ you talking about, Blaise?" Harry looked more confused than Blaise had ever seen him. He looked at Harry as though he was crazy.

"Wait a minute… You mean, you don't know about the prophecy?" Blaise got up from his position on the floor and sat on the couch, looking worriedly at Harry, the only thought running through his head was what a fool Dumbledore was if he expected the four of them to go off and fight in this war that he was sure was about to ensue without telling the two the most important information he had. Harry stared at Blaise, dumbstruck.

"Prophecy? The only prophecy I've heard is that a child was going to defeat Voldemort as a baby and whatnot, and that's already happened. What prophecy are _you_ talking about?" Harry looked at Blaise wide-eyed. Blaise wasn't sure if he was the one who should be telling Harry. He decided it should be Dumbledore who should tell him, after all, he wouldn't not tell them, would he?

"Harry, I – I don't think I should tell you, besides, I don't really know that much," A lie, the last thing Blaise wanted to do was lie to Harry, but he didn't want to be the one to have to explain. "I'm sorry. I'll meet you upstairs when you're ready to come up, ok?"

"Right." Agreed Harry, getting up himself and sitting on the couch as he watched Blaise make his way upstairs. He looked back down at Harry and smiled before he went into his room. Harry sighed. More prophesies? Was it ever going to stop? He hoped so.

He made his way up the stairs quietly and noticed the light moving under Hermione and Draco's door as the two moved around their room. He sighed remembering the kiss earlier that morning. He had loved Draco for so long, but never told anyone. He'd wanted to, but he had never had the guts. He sighed. Draco truly loved Hermione. Harry knew it, even if Draco didn't. He pushed the door to Blaise's room open and walked over to where he'd stashed his trunk in the corner – Blaise's mother had yet to notice – and took out his pyjamas. He changed into them and crossed the room to crawl into bed with Blaise. As he did so, another thought crossed his mind.

What if Voldemort won?

* * *

Whoo. Thanks for readin'! I'll update soon, that is, if is functioning. Hmm. Right, well, this is actually developing a thick little plot, mwahaha. Thanks to everyone who's read so far.And for anyone that's a Herm/Dray pusher, I apologise for Harry's Intervening.

Cheers,

Sami.

Miaow.


	6. The Prophecy

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

The next morning at 11 am, the four arrived at Kings Cross Station. They pulled their trunks along behind them, rushing past muggles who were casually strolling along the platform. They reached the wall between platforms 9 and 10 and one by one they ran through. Once they were all on platform 9 3/4 they stared up at the beautiful scarlet steam engine that stood before them. Harry felt his heart do a happy little flip as someone stepped off the train and walked toward them.

"Lupin!" Harry yelled, running over to him and throwing his arms around the man's neck. Lupin smiled down at Harry and hugged him back. "What're you doing here? It's so good to see you." Harry let go of Lupin who turned to give Hermione a hug.

"I've been at the school with Albus and he thought it would make you feel better if I came down and took the trip back to Hogwarts with you. It seems he was right, as usual." Remus smiled, then turned to Blaise and Malfoy. "Mr. Zabini, Mr. Malfoy." He shook each of their hands in turn. "Well, shall we get on board?" The four nodded and followed Lupin onto the train. "I just need to have a word with a few people, I'll come down and check on you four later on." He said once they'd settled into a compartment, they nodded and he left swiftly.

"I wonder who else is here?" Hermione voiced one of the thoughts on all of their minds.

"I suppose Crabbe and Goyle, Parkinson, Nott.. Lets face it, any Slytherin whose parent is a death-eater. Probably everyone whose parents are part of the Order of the Phoenix as well…" Hermione squeaked. "What's wrong?" Draco asked, he couldn't think of anything he had said or anyone he had mentioned that might upset Hermione.

"Ron." She whimpered, looking at Harry. "We've never gone through something like this without him…" She hiccuped. Harry moved over to sit on her other side and put his arm around her.

"We'll leave you to it." Draco said, getting up and motioning for Blaise to follow, he did so. Hermione watched the two of them leave and was almost shocked when the person she had been about to cry over had appeared at the door. Ron stood in the doorframe for a moment, until Harry nodded at the seat opposite them and he entered the compartment, closing the door behind him and taking a seat.

"Hey." He said, looking at Harry and Hermione. Hermione did look notably distraught, but Harry, as ever, looked calm and collected. Ron sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry I got mad and totally ignored you guys. It was stupid of me, I'm sorry." Hermione jumped up and launched herself on Ron. He looked startled for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around her and put his chin down on her hair. Harry noticed him take a big breath before he leaned over and clapped him on the shoulder, Ron beamed.

"It's good to have you back, mate." Harry said, smiling back at Ron. And the three of them proceeded to catch up on lost time, discussing everything from Dumbledore's letter to Hermione's relationship with Draco.

"Man, I always thought Harry was going to end up with Malfoy." Ron said after he and Hermione finished talking about how he didn't think he was ready for a relationship anyway. Harry flushed red for a moment, before trying desperately to change the topic of conversation.

"Ron, there's something really important we have to talk to you about." Harry said, he looked at Hermione and winked.

"Oh yea!" Hermione said excitedly, "We learnt something knew while we were at Blaise's. Actually, we started learning while we were still at school, but we finished over the last week or so… " Ron was no longer paying attention to Hermione, he was staring at the huge, Black Leopard that was now sitting in the middle of the compartment.

"Whoa! You guys learnt to be Animagi? And without me? Man, how hard was it? How does it work? What's it like??" Hermione answered all his questions by producing the book from her trunk and handing it to him. He gawked at it for a moment and then started flipping through it. "Where'd you get this from?"

"Lupin, of course." Harry answered Ron's last question, smiling broadly himself as he reappeared, replacing the Leopard. "It doesn't take long to make the potion, Hermione, have you still got the ingredients with you?" Hermione nodded and rummaged through her trunk, pulling out all sorts of odds and ends. Ron stared at her as she started to chop up some of the ingredients.

"You mean I'm actually going to get to be an Animagi?" Ron cooed dreamily.

"Well, only if we can find something for the second half of the potion, it may not be so easy, depending on your animal?" Hermione stopped chopping for a moment to look up at Ron. His face fell.

"You mean I don't get to choose?" He whined and slumped down on the seat next to Harry. Harry laughed lightly.

"No, the animal chooses you." Ron nodded knowingly and sat back, watching Hermione as she continued chopping ingredients. The three sat in silence for sometime, until Ron final brought up the topic he had been trying to avoid.

"So, you and Malfoy seem to be pretty good friends then, Harry, if you're not screwing I mean." He didn't mean to sound cruel, it had just come out that way, and his face looked sorry the instant the words escaped his mouth, Harry smiled.

"He's a good person, Ron, you should give him a chance." Harry said, Ron glanced over at Hermione, before looking back at Harry. "I understand why it would be hard for you, Ron. But I know you're better then that. Come on, give them a chance." Ron just looked at Harry for a while.

"Oh, Alright Harry." He smiled and laid a playful punch on Harry's shoulder. Harry feigned defeat and fell over on the seat, his head hanging over the edge, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"You better put that tongue away before I bite it off." A distinctly Slytherin voice said as two people entered the compartment. Ron looked up to see that Blaise had spoken, his face beaming and Malfoy was behind him, trying to hold back a laugh. He did look like a nice bloke, when he wasn't smirking, Ron noted. Harry sat up and stuck his tongue out at Blaise who returned the gesture. Ron looked at Harry.

"Ron, Blaise and Draco. Blaise, Draco, my good friend Ron." He said, "Let's pretend like you've never met before, so this is your first real introduction." Harry said, smiling. Ron's hand shot out straight away.

"Pleased to meet you both." He said, smiling. Draco's anxious expression evaporated and he smiled warmly, taking Ron's hand in his own.

"Pleasure." He stated. Ron noticed for the first time that Draco in fact did not have Lucius Malfoy's eyes. He had his own, and they glittered a warm, ocean blue. Maybe it was due to his recent personality change. Ron shrugged it off and held his hand out for the second boy. He was slightly smaller than Draco, and his brown-ish hair sat neatly on his head, the opposite to Harry's, he smiled.

Blaise took Ron's hand and shook it, his hand was warm, his skin soft. Ron smiled once more and then sat back down. Draco took a seat next to Hermione, while Blaise sat on Harry's other side. The five of them then started discussing what they could do to help the situation they were heading into.

"Bill reckons that we're going to get shoved down in the dungeons and wont be able to do much of anything, Ginny yelled at him, of course. But I don't think Dumbledore will let them, I mean, after all, if Harry and Draco are allowed to fight, then the rest of us should be there to back them up, right?" Ron had stated a while later. Hermione, Harry and Draco all looked at Ron strangely.

"Well, I know Dumbledore is going to let Harry fight, but what on earth does that have to do with me?" Draco started, then realised there was something much deeper going on. "Right, what do you two know that we don't?" Draco said, looking at Ron and Blaise. Ron shrugged his shoulders and Blaise started with an "Oh, well..." Before someone knocked on the door and Lupin appeared again.

Harry, Ron and Blaise all looked at Him, Hermione hadn't stopped looking at Ron and Draco was looking at Harry. Lupin stepped into the compartment and shut the door. "Ok, which of you two mentioned the prophecy?" All heads shot around to look at Lupin. "Ok, ok, seeing as I decided to pop up in the wrong place at the right time, I might as ell explain. Ron and Blaise know about the prophecy because of their wizarding background, that would explain why Hermione hadn't heard it. Dumbledore has asked everyone who knows not to tell Harry, he didn't want him to feel anymore burden until it was absolutely necessary to know, he was going to tell him himself when you arrived at the school, but it's probably better you hear it from me anyway."

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, removing his fringe from his face. Then he turned to Draco. "I suspect the reason you don't know is because your father never told you. He didn't want you to know. He kept denying that his son would be part of such a prophecy, and that it was a load of crap. But we know now that it isn't, because the first part of the prophecy has already come to be true."

Harry looked at Remus, Blaise and Ron. "Well, what is it?" He and Draco both asked apprehensively. They watched Lupin as he looked down, the back up at them.

"_The year will come, the two will meet, at Hogwarts they will both compete_." Lupin started.

"_Enemies the two shall be, of one on one and three on three_." Blaise recited.

"_For years the two shall not be friends, nor attempt to make amends_." Ron continued.

"_A Truce – the two are friends at last, to fight the demons of ones past_." Lupin went on.

"_And then the dark lord will arise, and terror pass across our skies_." Blaise…

"_A war will wage, it has begun, for now the two are almost one_," Ron…

"_Once they're one the world shall know, the power of the two will grow_." Lupin…

"_Together they have powers strong, this is where the two belong_." Blaise…

"_Defeat the dark, the two must win. Harry Potter and his Twin_." Ron finished, looking at Draco.

"It's not literal of course, it doesn't mean you and Malfoy are related or anything." Lupin hastened to add. "But it does state that you two have some sort of power between the two of you. Something strong enough to defeat Voldemort." He looked at Harry now, who was staring at him.

"And here I was thinking I would have to fight him all on my own, remind me to thank Doctor Seuss for the knowledge that I wont be." Harry looked at Draco and they both looked away as they made eye contact, Lupin scowled at Harry for making fun. "Sorry, but I still don't know anything about this power we apparently possess."

Draco sat up straight and looked at Lupin, he remembered for a moment the static crackle of energy that had passed between himself and Harry when they had shared a rather close moment only the day before. "Are you trying to say that me and Harry are going to work together to defeat Voldemort? Well, I kind of figured that much a while ago, but it was actually prophesised? Wow." He ran his fingers recklessly through his hair and looked at Hermione for a moment. "The only thing I don't understand though," He said, turning back to Blaise and Remus. "Is how exactly do Harry and I become one?" He ventured a look at Harry, who had started turning a very light shade of pink.

"That," Lupin's expression turned glum "is what we are trying to figure out. We can't think of anything unless it means becoming friends, and you've already done that, so what more can there be? We're thinking maybe it's just figurative or something." A few people exchanged glances, including Harry, Draco and Blaise.

"Surely Dumbledore would have some idea." Hermione said, re-joining the conversation. She took Draco's hand. "I mean, he's usually the one who deciphers these prophecies, isn't he?" Lupin nodded.

"Anyway, I believe we're almost there, I'll need to have a quick word with the driver. I'll meet you up in the castle, I believe Albus has dinner waiting." He winked and left the compartment.

"Right, well, I'd best go up with Mum and the others, I'll see you guys up there?" They all nodded as Ron left the compartment and shut the door behind him.

"What about your parents?" Harry asked, looking at the other three in turn.

"I think my parents will have been informed perhaps they're on the train, I wouldn't know, they've no way of contacting me, not to mention I hadn't thought of it, or I would have owled them." Hermione stated, suddenly furrowing her brow in thought.

"I think my mother's already at the school, ever since my father disappeared, she's been vowing she'd fight against him. Lucky for me, my father had no interest in me." Blaise said, looking pitifully at Draco.

"My mother went into hiding a while ago," He started, talking slowly, looking from one expectant face to the other, he realised that Blaise was the only one who really knew what went on at Malfoy Manor. "More from my father than anything else, I think. And my father, well, we all know that besides the fact that nobody cares if he dies anyway, he's where ever Voldemort is." His eyes held a large amount of anger, mixed with what looked like a fair amount of fear as well.

"Speaking of which, we all thought that you would eventually become a Death-Eater, what happened?" Hermione asked, voicing the exact question Harry and Ron were also thinking.

"Ha!" Malfoy gave a fake laugh and suddenly turned serious again. "Do you seriously think I would have joined them? I know I acted like an evil prat, but I seriously never would have considered joining the likes of Voldemort. He's just… Inhumane. Not that my father didn't seriously try. He tried everything from force to bribery. Nothing worked, I wouldn't give in, and eventually the dark lord bade him leave me be. He said I wasn't worth the effort."

"Wow. You really are one of the soppy good guys." Harry said, slapping him on the back. He smiled and started turning slightly red when Harry took a moment longer than necessary to remove his hand.

"Well, do you have any idea what my father put me through?" Draco started. Blaise looked to the floor, he knew. "Beating after ugly beating every summer holidays. The verbal abuse was just as bad. Then there was what he used to do to my mother…" Hermione moved instantly to wrap herself around Draco, he let his head fall onto her chest trying desperately not to cry. He barely managed.

Harry and Blaise exchanged a quick glance before Harry turned to Draco. "I know how it feels." Harry said, moving to sit next to Draco. "My Uncle, the muggles that I live with, they… well, for the first 11 years of my life I lived in the cupboard under the stairs. I probably wouldn't even fit in there now," Harry looked down; he had surely grown a lot since first year. "My cousin, Dudley, used to beat me up, a while back he became a junior champion boxer and his mates and him used to use me as their punching bag…"

Draco hadn't realised that Harry's past had been so bad. He smiled warmly at Harry. Harry smiled back, and for a split second Draco felt the crackle of magic in the air again. Maybe all they had to do was share a mutual feeling. Well, that wouldn't be hard, they both wanted to kill Voldemort, if they were both standing in front of him he was sure they'd both be experiencing feelings of anger and hatred. Perhaps, though, negative feelings just wouldn't cut it, after all, Harry and Draco had been fighting for most of their school life, and the magical energy had never been there before – perhaps they had to both be feeling something strong.

Perhaps they had to both be feeling love.

It made sense now, until Harry and Draco were together, in love and felt that love like a power running through their veins, only then would they be able to defeat Voldemort. He looked at Harry for a moment, before looking at Blaise and then finally letting his gaze rest on Hermione. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he knew he would have to say something, for unless he gave his heart fully to Harry, and Harry to him, they would lose. Their love would protect each other, just as Harry's mother had protected Harry as a baby. Draco remembered his father complaining about Lily Potter, and what she'd done for her son. He'd have to tell them, and soon, but he decided to wait until after dinner.

They reached Hogwarts later that evening, and as they made their way over to the carriages that would lead them up to school, Harry noticed Draco turn his nose up at the Thestrals, Blaise and Hermione were indifferent as they pulled ahead and climbed into one. "You can see them?" Harry asked, turning to Draco sharply, almost dropping his trunk.

"Of course I can, you think my father let me leave while he tortured innocent muggles at home, I think not." Draco drawled, his hatred for his father seeping out of him like sweat. He clenched his fists and climbed into the carriage next to Hermione. She took a hold of his hand, and he smiled at her.

They sat in silence as they made their way up to the school. None of them felt like speaking, let alone had anything to talk about. When they reached the school and climbed out, the four of them looked up at the castle. Harry wondered what would happen to all the students who had stayed at school for the holidays. He supposed they would be sent down to the dungeons with the rest of them, or sent elsewhere, if not home. He sighed; the school didn't look welcoming. It started to rain and he felt Hermione shiver next to him.

They pushed through the large oak doors and entered the school that they had left only a week or so earlier. The removed their dripping coats and made their way into the Great Hall. There were a hundred or so people gathered in the hall already, but it looked extremely empty, as it did during the Christmas holidays, but now even less so with it's lack of decorations and elaborate Christmas trees.

They noticed that almost all of the professors were present, including Hagrid. Hermione and Harry also recognised several members of the Order milling about. They smiled widely as Tonks passed them and waved. It didn't take them long to find Dumbledore. He was talking quietly with Lupin in the far corner of the hall, his expression looking rather grim. Harry was too busy paying any attention to them to notice the large black dog bounding up to him, and didn't until the dog had knocked him over and started liking his face wildly. Harry managed to shove him off before he knelt down next to him and threw his arms around the large dog's neck.

Next minute, Harry was kneeling on the floor of the Great Hall, wrapped in the embrace of his Godfather. "It's so good to see you, Harry. How've you been?" Sirius said, releasing Harry enough to look at his face, he rans his hands over Harry's hair adoringly, before letting him go and standing up.

"I'm fine, it's good to see you too." Harry stood also and then turned to his friends. "Sirius, this is Draco and Blaise." Sirius politely extended his hand and shook both of the Slytherin's. The five of them then took a seat as the food appeared and Sirius brought them up to speed about what had been happening over the last week.

"Snape found out, actually." He said when Draco had asked who it was that was spying at the time they'd found out. He knew there were several double agents working for Voldemort. Harry looked impressed and snuck a glance over at the potions professor who was currently talking heatedly with Remus; it looked like they weren't agreeing on something. "Anyways, I hear Remus told you about the prophecy. How's that going?"

"Not very well, but you are looking at four brand new Animagi." Hermione said proudly. "Remus gave us your book." She added at Sirius's questioning look, he smiled and nodded as she explained.

"You'll have to show me later." He smiled and they all nodded.

"Anyways, about the prophecy, we still aren't really sure about what it means when it says – "

"Actually, Harry, I think I've figured that out, I need to speak to you guys about it after dinner." Draco interrupted. Sirius smiled.

"Look, I need to go and have a word with Dumbledore, I'll leave you four to it, ok?" Sirius smiled before standing up and leaving the table, Harry watched him leave. They all turned to face Draco.

"I think we should leave the hall, I'm sure we're sharing a dorm." Draco had been right, the four of them were sharing a dorm in Gryffindor tower, seeing as everyone knew they would just sneak out to visit each other anyway. They made their way up to the room where their trunks had already been laid by the beds.

"So Draco, what's up?" Blaise asked, Draco's expression fell and he suddenly looked like he was going to be sick. He looked at Blaise, then Hermione.

"I'm so sorry, but…"

* * *

Mwahaha. A cliffhanger. And a horrible one at that. I don't think I've mentioned what year they're in, if I have tell me. Anyways, I wanted Sirius to be alive in my story, only because I love him so much and I couldn't afford to have Harry be too upset. Well, that's chapter 7, hopefully I'll be able to get chapter 8 up soon.

Cheers and please Review.

Sami.

Miaow.


	7. The Second Form

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

"But what, Draco?" Hermione asked worriedly. Draco had completely paled; he looked at Hermione. 

"There's no easy way for me to say this." He said. "So I'm just going to say it – I'm in love with Harry. And Harry's in love with me. I'm so, so sorry, I didn't want to hurt either of you, I just –" Hermione placed her hand on his which had been sitting on the bed beside him.

"Before you explain, I want you to know something. On the train this morning, while you and Blaise were gone and Ron came in, I… well, I realised I'm still in love with him, I mean, I'm in love with both of you." Hermione looked down sadly. Well, that made his breaking up with Hermione easier, but it didn't help with Blaise. Draco looked at him. Blaise looked back, then he nodded.

"Don't worry, Draco, I understand." Blaise said sadly, tears already glistening in his eyes, but he didn't leave, he didn't get up and walk away.

"It's hard." Draco continued. "But I realised what the prophecy meant when it said Harry and I need to become one – we need to connect in such a way that our power is not really magic, just the one thing strong enough to defeat hatred – love. It is love that creates the magical energy strong enough to defeat lord Voldemort, strong enough to protect us from the scum he is. " He paused and took a breath. "Unless I give my heart fully to Harry, and Harry to me, we will lose." He stated, looking at Harry.

Harry stared at him for a moment. "I need to think about it." He stated, almost unemotionally. Draco managed to look even sadder and nodded. Completely ignoring Dumbledore's orders to not leave the dorms, Harry got up and walked down to the portrait hole, climbing out gingerly. He decided to go and see Sirius. He took a step forward and realised he hadn't brought his cloak. 'Dammit.' He thought to himself, before muttering it again aloud when he remembered he had an even better way of sneaking around.

The Black Leopard made it's way almost invisibly through the shadows and back toward the great hall, he had no idea how he was going to get Sirius's attention until he spotted Remus and a large black dog bounding along beside him heading in the direction from which Harry had just come. He slipped out of the shadows and started padding along beside Padfoot. The dog stopped and turned to look at the cat. The cat seemed to shrug. The cat was slightly bigger than the dog, but all the same, the dog pounced at the cat and the two sprawled over the floor, rolling in every direction.

"Harry?" Asked Lupin almost unbelievably, "Is that you? Brilliant!" He exclaimed as Harry padded over and licked Lupin's hand. Before Lupin had finished his comment Sirius was standing beside him.

"Harry, that's marvellous!" He exclaimed, as Harry was once again standing in place of the Leopard. He smiled as Sirius ruffled his hair. "What're you doing out and about at this time of night, anyways? Dumbledore strictly told you to stay in your dormitory." Sirius questioned. Harry's expression fell a little, and Sirius placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry looked up at Sirius before looking back at the floor and speaking. "I don't know, nothing really, well, Draco's figured out how to defeat the Dark Lord, I mean, he has a theory, but it makes a lot of damn sense – only it means…" He paused, he could trust them. "It means I have to break up with Blaise. It means I have to be with Draco, not that I don't want to be, my god, I've wanted it since forever! But now that I have the opportunity to be… now that I'm with Blaise… " He sighed. "It's just too complicated. I don't want to hurt Blaise, but if I don't, we're likely to fail in defeating Voldemort."

Lupin looked at Harry sympathetically. "Harry." Harry looked at Lupin; he could see Harry was struggling to hold back tears. "What does your heart tell you?" Harry scrunched his nose up and his eyes shut for a moment, and a couple of tears fell to the floor. He looked back up at Remus and Sirius.

"Draco."

The large black cat that now stood where Harry had been standing put his large paws on Remus's shoulders and licked his face, Lupin laughed and then bade Harry go and sort everything out. Harry said goodbye to Sirius as well, who had turned back into a large dog, and then ran back into the shadowy corridors and headed for Gryffindor tower.

Harry appeared before the fat lady, giving her quite a scare. She let him through, mumbling about irresponsible students. Harry ran into the common room and up the stairs, taking two at a time before bursting through the door of the dormitory. Harry stood, breathlessly at the door, before he could say anything; Blaise stood up and walked over to him.

He unfastened a chain from around his neck, Harry recognised it as the one his mother had given him before she'd gone all strange and started disappearing regularly. Harry's features scrunched up momentarily. "No, Blaise. I can't take that from you. I can't! It's yours!" He was almost in hysterics; it was proving to be too much for him. But he refused to run. He looked at Blaise, shock spreading over his face as the smaller boy walked over and, without hesitation, fastened the necklace around Harry's neck.

The entwined snake and lion gleamed up at him. It was beautiful. "Thank you." He managed, moving to kiss Blaise lightly on the nose; he blushed and smiled, trying to hold back his tears. Harry wrapped his arms around him and the two boys held on to each other for a long while.

"It'll keep you safe, at least, a little bit more safe than if you didn't have it, and I've charmed it so that if you need help, all you have to do is rub it, and we'll know. Hermione helped." He blushed a little; Harry squeezed him tightly for a moment.

Draco watched them, suddenly not feeling so guilty, which in turn made him feel even more guilty. He wondered where Harry had run off to, and what had happened to make him return so flustered. He didn't voice his question, but instead looked up in surprise as Harry walked over to Draco and, cupping his face with one of his hands looked into his eyes. He seemed to be searching for something, only Draco had no idea what. He looked back at Harry, completely unaware that Harry had found exactly what he was looking for the in the light blue eyes. Draco watched Harry turn and walk over to the bathroom; he entered and closed the door behind him.

Draco felt horrible; he lay back on his bed and stared at the red and gold canopy above him. It felt odd, to be lying on his back in a four-poster bed surrounded by red and gold instead of green and silver. He sighed loudly, before rolling over and attempting to sleep.

The next morning everyone assembled in the Great Hall. Harry and Hermione greeted Mrs Weasley merrily, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore stood before them, not at the staff table, but just on the floor in front of the four house tables.

"Good morning everyone." He beamed, his voice a little quiet. "Those of you who will be accompanying myself and professors McGonogall and Snape to headquarters – you know who you are - will kindly stay behind in the hall. Everyone else, would you please be kind enough to follow professor Flitwick down to the Slytherin common room where you will be staying for the next few days. I apologise for any inconvenience, but some of you need to be kept safer than you realise." He nodded and everyone who didn't know what Dumbledore was talking about exited the hall behind professor Flitwick.

Harry looked at Blaise and Hermione. "I assume you two are supposed to be coming?" He asked them raising an eyebrow. Hermione threw a scrunched up napkin at his head and Blaise hit him himself.

"Are you kidding? There's no way on the planet you and Dray are going without us!" Blaise said, insulted. Hermione nodded and crossed her arms.

" Good." Said Draco, leaning in and joining the conversation. "After all, what would me and Harry be with the other two smartest students in Hogwarts?" He smirked, that famous smirk, and Harry almost melted next to him. Now that it was actually happening, he didn't know what he would do. Though he still felt bad about having to break it off with Blaise, he felt a lot better knowing that Blaise understood and supported him. He ran his hand unceremoniously through his hair.

"I don't think you could get it any messier, you know." Draco jeered. Harry turned to find him watching him and froze for a moment. Then he loosened up and smiled, shaking his head. He sighed before turning back to try and find Sirius and Remus. He spotted them walking over to them.

"We're catching the train back to Kings Cross station, we'll arrive this evening. Now, you know, Harry and Hermione, that it's only a short walk from the station to Headquarters, do you think you can remember the way?" Lupin was talking quickly, they both nodded. "Ok, good, you can pair off, if possible. Now, it should be dark when we get there, which always makes sneaking easier, thank goodness, but if you can manage it, I'd urge you to make your way to headquarters in your Animagi forms. Sound fair enough? We'll deal with your trunks, Most of us will be apparating from Kings Cross, Sirius will accompany you to HQ. Right, see you on the train then."

Harry felt very confused, sitting on the train heading back to Kings Cross Station, only a day after having caught it to Hogwarts. His mind was having trouble coming to terms with everything that had happened the last few days. He sat in the compartment with Hermione, Ron, Draco, Blaise and Ginny.

"I made that potion." Ron said suddenly. "My Animagi form is a fox." He beamed and Hermione's head looked like it was going to snap she turned it so fast to face him. He looked at her strangely for a moment.

"Are you serious?" Hermione asked him, looking into his eyes as if searching for some trace of a lie. She didn't find it as Ron nodded and produced a sheet of parchment with a picture of a red fox looking curiously up at them. "Oh my goodness. I mean… Wow." Hermione stared down at the paper in awe.

"What? What's wrong?" Ron asked uneasily. He was watching Hermione, her eyes had opened wide, and she looked at the parchment in shock.

"I'm… a fox… too." She said quietly. She looked up into Ron's eyes. His expression was blank for a moment until he saw Hermione's lips curl up into a smile, then he let his own face show how he felt – he was ecstatic.

"So, what does that mean?" He asked, looking at Hermione hopefully.

"Basically, it means we're soul mates." Hermione said, looking once more into Ron's eyes. He smiled widely and pulled her into a tight embrace, which she obligingly returned.

"Whish I had a little ferret friend to play with." Draco said semi-sarcastically, watching Hermione and Ron and remembering that Harry and Blaise were both Leopards. Hermione's head shot up and she let go of Ron, turning to face Draco.

"My gosh, how stupid of me." She said, looking utterly stupefied, "I forgot to tell you about what Ron and I read last night while we were going over the book." She looked at Harry, then Draco, then back to Harry. "It was looking for something in the index, and I noticed something while I was flicking through – there's a section for advanced wizards. It says, that if the Animagus potion is brewed twice, an average wizard would produce the same picture, basically for the rest of his or her life, every time they try, the animal will be the same. But if a more advanced wizard tries again, if their power is strong enough, if it runs strongly enough through their veins – they can have two forms."

Draco's eyes looked as though they had doubled in size. Harry's expression looked as though every Christmas and Birthday he'd ever missed had all come at once. She giggled at the site of them. Harry composed himself first. "Do you think we're powerful enough?"

"Harry," Hermione said, as though he'd asked who Dumbledore was, "You are the most powerful wizards in the world! I certainly think you'll be strong enough."

"Right then, get the ingredients out, enough for two potions worth." Draco looked at Hermione; she looked back at him, her eyes questioning him momentarily. "I'm not kidding, woman!" She jumped and turned instantly to her trunk, opening it and pulling out a dozen or so assorted ingredients. Ginny and Blaise offered to help cut every up, Ron pulled the book out and opened it to page XII.

An hour and a half later, Ginny was scrambling to pull 2 large sheets of parchment out of her trunk and spread them neatly on the floor of the compartment, which now looked like the potions room after a first year class. Hermione sighed at the mess then turned her attention back to Harry and Draco, who each had a beaker in their hands. "Count of three?" Harry asked, looking nervously at Draco. The blonde boy nodded. "Ok, one… two… three." The two boys tilted their wrists and let the liquid flow down onto the parchment.

As soon as they touched the parchment, the two blobs formed a similar shape and started spinning, mirroring each other. Harry and Draco, who were both kneeling on the floor over the parchment, looked at each other. As they looked down at the parchment, they noticed along with everyone else, that the blobs had both turned silver, before one started to glow lighter and one slightly darker. They stopped spinning and started spreading themselves out, as though one were in front of a mirror and they were watching the one.

All thoughts were confirmed as the blobs turned into shapes, which turned into two almost identical pictures of wolves. Standing proud, looking out over a forest. In fact, Hermione pointed out, if you put the two pictures side by side, they formed one picture, of the two wolves standing together, looking out over the night. The only things that differed between them were the slight difference in the colour of their fur, and the eyes. One had light, sad, ocean blue eyes; the other had bright, defiant green.

The six people in the compartment stared in awe at the pictures for a long while. The carriage bumping along the tracks, indifferent to what had just happened inside it. Ginny was the first to move, she got up and went to her trunk, then she pulled out a nail file and came back over to the group. Without saying anything, she sat next to the two remaining beakers of potion, and pulled a necklace out from under her shirt. The others saw a claw and the end, which Ron recognised as the one Bill had given her a little while ago. Everything suddenly clicked into place. She filed the claw down with the nail file, letting the powder fall into each of the beakers. Then she stood back and looked at Harry and Draco.

They looked at the beakers a little comprehensively. So they were soul mates after all. They were exactly the same. Well, almost. Draco felt a shiver go down his spine. This is what he'd always wanted. He looked at Harry, who nodded and picked up one of the beakers. Draco did the same. Was he ready for this? Of course he was. Was he ready to face Voldemort? Of that, Draco wasn't so sure. He wasn't even sure if Harry was ready this time.

With one more glance at the four faces watching them, Harry and Draco lifted the beakers to their mouths and drank it. For a moment they looked like they were going to be ill, and Ron was reminded of the time that he, Hermione and Harry had taken the polyjuice potion in their second year. A few moments later, they were both sitting on the floor, looking a lot less pale.

"Are…" Ginny started quietly, "Are you gonna try it?" She looked expectantly from one to the other.

Harry and Draco closed their eyes. Harry imagined himself running through the forest, the wind whipping his face, the ground crunching under his swift feet. Draco imagined himself standing, proud, watching over the forest, the moon in the sky above him, the breeze whistling through his fur. Harry thought about all the different scents of the forest. Draco picked them up too, the pine, the freshly fallen decaying leaves, the smell of coming rain.

As they opened their eyes, they saw that everyone in front of them was staring, unbelievingly, at two fully-grown wolves sitting before them. It looked like Hermione and Ginny had even stopped breathing. Draco moved first, getting up and moving over the where the two girls sat, he liked each of their noses and Ginny threw her arms around his neck suddenly, scaring him. He yelped and Harry seemed to jeer. Hermione leaned over to where Harry was still sitting and gently stroked his neck; she couldn't believe how soft he was. He moved to a more comfortable position and let Hermione scratch him behind the ears.

At that moment Lupin came back into the compartment. He looked at Ginny and the wolf, at Hermione and the other wolf, then at the empty seat where Harry and Draco had been sitting when he left. "Wait a second… Harry's Animagi form is a Leopard, right?" He looked again at the two wolves, and then did a double take as Harry and Draco re-appeared.

"Yea, and my form is a ferret, believe it or not." Draco scowled for a moment. "But it seems that we have two forms…"

Lupin stared at him, slightly bewildered. "Yes, it certainly seems that way, and you're almost identical – well, that makes sense doesn't it! The prophecy – '_Harry Potter and his Twin._' Now it makes a lot more sense! But… wow, you're soul mates. I've only witnessed that once before." He said, looking from the blonde-haired boy to the raven-haired one. "And that was James and Lily."

"That was… what?!" Harry asked, startled at his mothers name being mentioned. He had, obviously, known that his father was an Animagus and that his form was a stag, but he hadn't known his mother had been one.

"After we left school and joined the original order, James talked Lily into learning the art of becoming an Animagi, naturally, she got it first go. And she was a doe. A female deer. They were definitely soul mates." Remus said, staring at nothing in particular, daydreaming, no doubt, about their school days together.

Harry stood up and moved over to place his hand reassuringly on Lupin's shoulder. Lupin looked up and thanked him silently. Harry smiled back. "But how do you both have two forms?"

"Well, in the very back of the book, it says that if an average wizard were to make the potion again, then it would simply produce another picture of the same animal, and would do so their entire life. But a stronger wizard – well, the second time they try the potion, if they're strong enough, it shows their second animal. We thought we'd try it and see what happened. And, well, you saw." Harry stammered quickly, as though he was still trying to figure out what to make of the whole thing. He looked at Lupin, who didn't say anything for a while.

"Well, I guess you two really are strong than the average wizard." He managed, then stood and turned to leave. "Do you want to tell Sirius about this, or should I?"

"I'll tell Sirius, you can tell Dumbledore and the others." Harry said, shakily, standing to follow Remus out of the compartment. Once the two had left, Draco couldn't contain himself any longer.

"Wow! I mean… just… wow! Did you see that?! We're the same, I mean, wow, that was so awesome… that was… " He stopped when he noticed the other four looking at him strangely. "What?"

"Nothing." Hermione said, breaking into a smile. "Nothing at all, we're so proud of you!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek softly. He smiled warmly at her and squeezed her close to him for a moment.

"I'm so sorry about everything, Hermione. How can I make it up to you?" He smiled down at her, his arms still around her waist, ignoring Ron who was trying hard not to fume behind him.

Hermione's lips curled into a mischievous smirk. "When this is all over, you can buy me dinner." She smiled and he kissed her head. Hermione however, could not ignore Ron. "Purely as friends, of course." She giggles.

"Of course." Draco replied, then he let her go over and settle in Ron's lap, settling himself on the seat opposite them and thinking about Harry. He couldn't believe his luck. After all their years of fighting, all the times he'd called Harry a bigheaded idiot show-off, he turned out to be the Boy-Who-Lived's sidekick. Not Ron, Not Hermione, him. He looked over at his four friends, sitting in the compartment with him and smiled, it looked like his life was finally starting to go right, or was it…?


	8. The Training Begins

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

They arrived at headquarters the next morning. Entering the old house one by one they were greeted by the shouting and screaming of Sirius's mother. Harry, Hermione and Ron ignored her; Blaise put his hands to his ears and scrunched up his nose. Draco, on the other hand couldn't help himself, he ventured over and peered behind the curtain. 

"WHAT!?! FILTHY DIRTY MUDBLOOD SCUM BACK IN MY HOUSE? GET OUT! GET OUT! Wait… what's this? A Malfoy? A pureblood, Slytherin Malfoy? Can it be? At last, some SANITY!" She screeched, as Draco let the curtain go and backed away.

"My mother." Sirius jeered, appearing at his shoulder. Draco jumped. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, come on then, upstairs." He patted Draco on the shoulder, Draco looked at him strangely for a moment before following him up the stairs and away from the screeching Mrs Black.

"Wow, she really is a Black. No offence." Draco said quickly, realising his comment may very much have hurt the good hearted, wrongly accused, very, very innocent man before him. He rubbed the back of his neck, the nervous habit he'd been able to evade since his evening with Hermione in the library. Thinking back over the night he'd spent with her, Draco remembered how it had felt being so close to her, breathing in her scent and touching her soft skin. He really did love Hermione, but he loved Harry too.

He wondered what it would be like to be that close to Harry, to feel his slightly rougher, tanned skin close to his own soft, pale body. To feel Harry's lips on his, to feel their bodies pressed together in the heat of passion…

Sirius stood in front of Draco waving a hand in front of his face. He almost walked into it and stopped walking, almost falling flat on his face. "Uhh… Sorry." He stammered. Sirius laughed and ushered Draco into his room, dropping his trunk at the foot of one of the beds. It was at that point Draco noticed there were in fact two beds in the room. "Who am I sharing with?" He asked, looking at Sirius. Sirius stepped aside and Draco's fear was confirmed.

Harry stepped into the room and dumped his own trunk at the foot of the other bed. He then turned and flopped onto the bed, brushing his hair off his face. It wasn't that Draco didn't want to share a room with Harry; he did, by all means. It was more that, while he was sharing a room with Harry, everyone would assume what was going on behind the closed door. Draco didn't want them to think he was like that, because he simply wasn't. The other reason he was worried about sharing a room with Harry, was because he thought, given the right person, he very well might be like that.

He sighed and sat down on his own bed, watching Harry, who, after a while, rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. "What's bothering you?" He asked the blonde, who just looked at him for a few moments longer and then looked down at the bedspread he had occupied himself with the edge of. "Are you thinking that we're not going to live through this?" Harry asked him conversationally, as though he hadn't just asked Draco if he thought they were going to die.

"Not really, I was actually thinking that it's highly possible I'm going to have to fight my father." Draco sighed and leant down to rest his chin on his open palm, his elbow perched on his knee.

"Do you want to?" Harry asked, not sure whether he should or not. He got up and walked over to the bed where Draco was still perched, now with his arms crossed on top of his knees which were pulled close to him, his head on his arms, he looked just about ready to start crying. Harry had never seen this side of Draco before. He was vulnerable, he was scared and upset and alone. He was human.

"No. Of course I don't. As much as I hate him, he is my father, I guess I'm worried that, if it did come down to it and I had to fight him, I'd probably willingly kill him." Draco said. He hadn't started crying yet, but once he said that, Harry watched as a single tear ran down his cheek and fell from his chin onto his pants.

Harry sat down next to Draco and put his arms around him. The blonde boy turned and buried his face in Harry's top and Harry kissed the top of his head lightly. As Harry did so, Draco finally let go and sat limply in Harry's arms, racking with the heavy sobs that were escaping him. Harry rubbed his back softly, the way Hermione did whenever he was upset. Draco's sobs eventually began to get softer, and he looked up at Harry with a tear stained face.

"Draco, no matter what happens, no matter what, I promise you that we'll be ok." Harry said defiantly, knowing that Draco thought, just as well as he did, that it was probably the corniest thing Harry Potter would ever say to him. He knew Harry couldn't promise that, and if he really meant to, there was a high chance he would break it. Draco knew that Harry was just saying it to try and make him feel better, to try and get his mind of his bastard of a father. It worked, for a while. Draco and Harry moved into a more comfortable position, so that Harry was sitting against the large, wooden bed-head and Draco was lying on his chest, wrapped in Harry's arms. Shortly after, Harry could hear the deep, rhythmic breathing that let him know Draco had fallen asleep.

The next morning, Harry woke first, and, noting the time, nudged Draco to wake him. The two boys rubbed their eyes sleepily and, turning to their trunks to retrieve their clothes got up and headed for the bathroom. They stopped at the door and looked at each other. "You go first." Harry motioned to the door groggily. Draco shook his head. Harry nodded and shoved him toward the door once more before turning back to his bed and sitting down. He sighed, he knew that he should probably be making the best of the time he had to himself without disastrous thoughts weighing on his mind – He knew that as soon as they went downstairs, Dumbledore would be revealing to everyone the plan he had for the attack they were sure was staged.

Once both of the boys had showered, dressed and complimented each other on how great they looked, they went downstairs together, their hands rubbing each other everyone now and again. Harry suddenly couldn't stand the thought of being away from Draco. He wasn't quite sure what he'd do if anything happened to either of them, not to mention Ron, Hermione, Blaise and Ginny.

They entered the kitchen and stopped when every one present turned to look at them, Draco felt his cheeks turning a striking pink, upon glancing sideways, he noticed that Harry had obtained some nice colouring as well. Dumbledore was the only one still focused on the conversation that had been taking place before the two boys entered. He cleared his throat and the majority of attention in the room turned back to him. Harry and Draco relaxed a little as Blaise, Ron and Hermione entered the room and the five of them took their seats.

Dumbledore had just finished telling everyone in the room about the prophecy. Those who already knew about it had been sitting patiently waiting for him to finish, while those who didn't know about it had been listening quite attentively until the two the prophecy centred around entered the room. "If I may kindly have your attention once more. Thankyou. Now, as I was saying – Harry and Draco will have to fight Voldemort together, what I have called you here today for, is to help us decipher the hidden meanings of this prophecy, namely how Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy can _'become one'_. And also the last part about _'Harry Potter and his Twin'_. Now, if I may start by saying –'

"I'm sorry to interrupt Professor, but we've already figured that out." Harry interrupted, standing up.

"That's right, sir." Said Draco, standing up next to Harry. "We know what both of those lines mean."

Dumbledore looked at the two boys for a while, as if he was studying them, or reading their minds to see if they were telling the truth. Draco felt unnerved by the headmaster's attention on him, but Harry just stood there, looking back at Dumbledore, waiting for him to speak. He did so shortly after. "Alright, let's hear it then." He said jovially. Harry smiled and turned to Draco.

Draco looked at Harry for a moment, before turning back to the headmaster, silently making sure it was ok for him to talk. The headmaster nodded slightly. Draco exhaled, then he inhaled, then he exhaled again before he turned to face the members of the Order of the Phoenix. "Well, as all of you probably know, when Harry was a baby, when he stopped You-Know-Who, it was his mother's undying love that protected him. She died protecting him, and her love created a shield. Harry and I have discovered that in order for us to become one, it means what it would mean to any other two people in love – simply being together and giving ourselves to the other - completely to the other. Only when we have given each other our hearts completely, and feel our love for each other as though it's running through our veins will we be able to access the power that the prophecy talks about – the power to defeat hatred and anger – love.

"As for the part of the prophecy that talks about us being twins, well… I think that's easier if we show you." Draco said, looking at Harry who nodded his agreement. The two boys stepped back from the table.

There were several gasps from members and a few ohh's and ahh's from others as two wolves sat before them, almost identical save for their colourings and eyes. Sirius smiled knowingly to himself and Remus clapped his friend on the shoulder, they both knew how proud Lily and James would be.

"Brilliant." Said Dumbledore, breaking up the whispering that had started to spread across the hall. "Marvellous. Well, I see you two have sorted this out. However," His tone seemed to fall, he almost sounded like he was warning them, Harry suddenly realised what Dumbledore was going to say, and truthfully, he hadn't been expecting it, the issue had slipped his mind. "You must remember that, though many of the people in this room are your friends, not everyone will be as accepting of your relationship as they are." He looked at professor Snape who seemed to be seething. He stood up straight and cleared his face of emotion as he noticed Dumbledore look at him.

"Some people will try to tell you it's wrong, they will try to split you apart and drag you down, you _must not listen._ Ignore them. They are not important. If what you feel feels right, then it is. But do not let the unsure thoughts of others cloud your own thoughts. Now," He clapped his hands together and turned away from Harry and Draco to address the rest of the members. "Before we start discussing what information we have on the Dark Lord's location, and what we know about his plans and our own, we need to officially welcome our five newest Order members."

Harry and Draco, who had taken their seats once Dumbledore had finished discussing the fact that their gay relationship could only cause trouble, or so it had seemed to Harry who was now rather upset, stood when Dumbledore beckoned them to, joined by Blaise, Hermione and Ron. "First may I introduce Miss Hermione Granger. Top in most of her classes and Head Girl at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, nodding and summoning her over to where he was standing, he shook her hand she stood beside him, positively beaming.

"Next, the Keeper for the Gryffindor quidditch team, Gryffindor prefect and in the top 3 of his Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Mr. Ronald Weasley." Ron stood, walked over and shook Dumbledore's hand before standing next to Hermione. His face had gone so red he looked as though he'd dunked his head in a bowl of red paint and had gallivanted off to watch a Gryffindor quidditch match. Hermione giggled and took his hand, while his other hand waved at his mother, father and older brother Bill, who were beaming at him from around the table.

"Mr. Blaise Zabini, Chaser on the Slytherin quidditch team, and president of the seventh year charms and transfiguration clubs." Harry beamed as Blaise walked over and shook Dumbledore's hand before standing next to Hermione who gave him a quick hug. Harry felt a sudden pang of guilt in his chest, but tried to push it out of his mind as Dumbledore turned to the tall blonde next to him.

"Slytherin Seeker, president of the potions club and Slytherin prefect, Mr. Draco Malfoy." Harry patted his shoulder and winked as Draco made his way over to Dumbledore, shook his hand and stood next to Blaise. Several whispers were murmured through the group of people sitting around the table. Harry knew what they were saying, two Slytherins? In the Order of the Phoenix? Both of them sons of known death-eaters. It did seem strange, Harry had to admit, but he knew Draco and he knew Blaise and neither of them were going to betray the Order, that he was sure of. At last, Dumbledore turned to face Harry.

"President of no clubs, top of none of his classes, highly trained in Defence Against the Dark Arts, breaker of many school rules, Gryffindor Seeker, Head Boy, the Boy-Who-Lived – Mr. Harry James Potter." Dumbledore took Harry's hand as everyone in the room, Hermione, Ron, Blaise and Draco included started clapping. Harry felt himself turning almost as red as Ron as he moved to stand next to Draco. Draco beamed at him and Harry couldn't help but smile broadly back.

Dumbledore raised his hands and the room quietened down. "Now, on to more pressing matters, you five may take your seats." He nodded at them and they returned to their seats, the atmosphere in the room certainly losing any positive feelings. "We have received word that the Dark Lord is in fact in London. He has set up a headquarters not far from our own, so I advise you all to take extra caution when you are not inside this house. Sirius, you are not to leave the house, not even in your Animagi form. It's bad enough with the ministry on our backs for claiming that Voldemort will attack, the less attention we draw to ourselves, the better." He said firmly, watching Sirius as he sank down in his chair, rolled his eyes and muttered something rude under his breath.

"I also advice you five to be with an adult member of the order at all times. Do not leave HQ unless it is absolutely necessary. Do you understand?" The five of them nodded silently, it was certainly turning out to be a lot less exciting than they thought it would be. "We have inside sources telling us that Voldemort has an attack planned on the school on the first day back in the new-year. He still has many death-eaters supporting him, so we must be careful who we trust." Dumbledore took a seat, not looking at anyone as he spoke the last sentence. Several heads turned to look at Blaise and Draco. Draco caught the headmaster's eye.

"May I speak?" Dumbledore nodded and Draco stood, facing the members. "I know the majority of you think that Blaise and I can't be trusted because of who our fathers are. You're wrong. Our fathers have basically disowned us; they've disappeared. I don't how much you actually know about my father. When I was a child, he used to beat me. No matter how pathetic his excuse, every single day, he would hit me as hard as he fr… as hard as he could." Harry noticed that Draco had clenched his fists, he closed his eyes, Harry could see how hard this was for Draco, he just hoped that everyone else could, too. "My father didn't care about anything or anyone but Voldemort. I know that, just like I know that Voldemort is evil and _has_ to be stopped. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to stop him; to do whatever it takes to stop him getting Harry."

No one in the room spoke as Draco sat down. None of the members looked at him either. He sat down next to Harry and stared at the table. Harry looked at Blaise, who put his hand on Draco's back to try and console him, but Draco shrugged him off. It was all Harry could do to just sit and watch him stand abruptly, knocking over his chair and storming from the room. Hermione, with a sad glance at Harry, got up and followed him. Blaise and Ron followed at a slower pace, leaving Harry at the table as the rest of the members started to disperse.

When most of the members were gone, Lupin and Sirius joined Harry, who was seated at the table staring mindlessly at the wood. Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "It'll be ok, enough of us trust him. We know what Lucius was like, Draco will be ok with us." He wasn't as sure as he sounded, Harry knew, but he smiled weakly up at Sirius in thanks anyhow.

"It's not Draco I'm worried about. Well, it is… but it's everyone else as well." Harry said, still looking dejectedly at the table. He sighed and then looked at Sirius and Remus. "I can't see how we're going to get through this." He said, pulling a long chain out from under his shirt and fingering the lion and snake, which were wrapped around each other. It glowed for a moment before Harry put it back inside his shirt.

"It's getting late, Harry, you should get to bed, I believe Moody is going to run you five through some advanced training tomorrow." Harry's head snapped up.

"He's what?" He asked, dazed. "Wait a minute, there are only 3 days until the start of term, we have 3 days to try and get ready for a war between good and evil?" Harry stared at Lupin in disbelief, "3 days?!" Harry let his head fall against the wooden table with a thud. "Now I know we're doomed." He said, his voice muffled from his close proximity to the table. Sirius let his hand slip under Harry's forehead and bring it away from the table.

"No point giving yourself a headache now, you're bound to have one by dinner time tomorrow." Sirius said, glancing at Remus, who nodded. "At least if it's anything like the training he gave us when we first joined the order." He added as an after thought, hinting that it might not be so bad. Harry smiled at them, then stood and made to leave the room. He stopped when he felt Lupin's hand on his arm.

"It'll be ok, Harry. You're more powerful than you know." Harry looked at him for a moment before he walked away. This was it, in three days they'd be going into war. Like soldiers, marched in to be killed off one by one. He was scared, more scared than he'd ever been in his life before. He cared too much for his friends, his friends who were more like his family than they'd ever know. He didn't know what he'd do if a single thing happened to any one of them. Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Ginny, Fred, George, Neville, Seamus, Dean… Draco. He walked slowly up the stairs and to the room he was sharing with Draco. He entered quietly in case Draco was asleep, but once he was inside the room he saw that there was no need.

Draco sat on his bed, a piece of parchment in front of him, Hermione on one side, Ron next to her and Blaise on his other side. He picked up the parchment and handed it to Harry. He read it slowly.

_On this eve of January 4th we pledge to stand by one another, to trust one another, to be there for one another and to love one another. We pledge to fight beside each other, but not die beside each other. We will live on, we will be strong, we will never give in. Never. We will win._

They had all signed the bottom.

Harry read and reread the parchment three times before he looked at his four friends sitting on the bed before him. Then he smiled and jumped onto the bed, enveloping all his friends into a big group hug. The five of them stayed still, locked together in their embrace for several minutes.

Harry let go first, and sat back to look at his four friends. "Nothing is going to happen to us." He said aloud as he picked up the quill and signed the bottom of the parchment also. He could feel the tears behind his eyes threatening to fall. He wouldn't let them. He hugged each of his friends as they left the room, and the last of all he moved to sit on the bed next to Draco. Draco pulled him down into a hug and the two boys stayed as they were, laying in each other's arms until they fell asleep.

The next morning, the five of them were up at 6 am, showered, dressed and lined up in the large empty living room on the bottom floor of the house. Moody stood before them. "Right." He growled, and Blaise and Draco both swallowed nervously. Draco seemed absolutely terrified of Moody, even though he knew it wasn't the same man who had transformed him into a ferret three years ago. "First things first, Dumbledore has told me that the five of you are unregistered Animagi, is this correct?" They responded with a loud "Yes, sir." And Moody nodded approvingly.

"Alright then, one by one I want you to show me your form, starting with you, Mr. Weasley." Hermione had helped Ron with his potion and his transformation, and there was soon a little red fox sitting where Ron had been standing. Next, a little brown fox where Hermione had been standing, then a clouded leopard where Blaise had been. Harry had to hold back a giggle as the little white ferret appeared on the floor and finally the beautiful black leopard appeared in Harry's place. Once they had all transformed back, Moody turned to Harry and Draco. "And your second forms are the wolves, correct?" Both boys nodded. "Ok, no need for a demonstration of that. I wonder though, Harry, what would happen if you thought of both animals while trying to transform. Just a thought. Now, seeing as you're all seventh years, you know the basic defensive spells, so we're going to work on something a little harder. You will need full concentration."

The five of them stood still, listening and watching while Moody showed them stronger, more complicated blocking spells and dodging spells, several new jinxes and a few charms that may help in battle. Once they'd perfected the majority of these, it was still late morning, and Moody was impressed. "Ok, well, you're doing a lot better than expected. Maybe we can move onto the more advanced magic. War magic. Of course, when muggles fight a war they have firearms, guns, bombs and what have you. But wizards don't bother with all that petty nonsense, we use magic to fight, of course. Now, I'm not talking the unforgivables. No, no, just some regular little blasting spells and whatnot. Now, take a copy of this spell book each, that's it, and you'll see that it's full of fighting spells."

Harry took the copy of the book Moody was handing him, it didn't have a title, or an author, or a table of contents, nor did it have page numbers. The writing on each page was handwritten, small and very neat. On each page Harry saw a single incantation, followed by a short description of what each spell did. He looked down at the first spell.

_Occumbo Mortuus_

_Though not totally killing it's victim, the occumbo mortuus spell will leave the victim in such a state that he or she will not be able to move or think for several days or weeks, basically, it leaves it's victim in a coma-like state._

He flicked toward the back of the book, and stopped when he saw something that caught his eye. Something that made him think they did have a chance at winning the war, Something that made him think that if the situation called for it, he could kill.

_Intentio Pro Pectus Pectoris_

_The closest spell to the killing curse as a wizard can get without being thrown into Azkaban. Though it does leave it's victim dead, the victim can be revived if done so within 24 hours of being hit by the spell. This spell is classified as defensive magic by the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement._

_The incantation itself translates back to 'Aim for the Heart.'_


	9. The Training Continues

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Morph concept © Walt Disney Pictures.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

Harry stared at the book for at least 3 solid minutes before someone knocked on the door and Ginny entered, informing them all that lunch was ready. Harry instinctively shoved the small book into his back pocket and promptly forgot about it. As they made their way up to the dining room, Ginny fell back to walk with Harry and Draco, who were trailing behind the others.

"I just want you to know that I support you guys 110 percent. Even though I agree that it's a huge loss on us girls part." She said, smiling widely at them, Harry put his arm around her shoulder as they turned a corner and squeezed her to him in thanks. Draco smiled. "How's the training, anyway? Fred said that you were going to learn Avada Kedavra." She squealed, half in excitement and half in fear. "He said it's not fair that you guys get extra training and we don't, but I told him why, I told him it's because we're not going to be fighting, he said he was gonna fight anyway…" Harry looked over at Draco momentarily before turning back to Ginny.

"Moody's not teaching the unforgivables. But he did give us a book with a lot of other spells that are used in fighting. Some of them are rather easy, like the kind of things you would use in a wizards duel, but some sound just as bad as the unforgiveables, I suppose the unforgiveables are unforgivable because you can't reverse them, all the ones in this book have a cure if they're treated quickly enough." Harry said, pulling the book out and holding it up so that Ginny could see it. "They're really only defensive spells, spells you would use to protect yourself or someone else, right Draco?" He turned to Draco expecting his agreement, but Draco was staring at the floor and didn't turn to look at Harry.

"I know Avada Kedavra." He said monotonically. Harry and Ginny both turned to look at him, but he didn't look back, he just kept staring at the floor. Ginny and Harry turned back to each other before Harry looked at Draco again.

"Well, that's understandable, given your father." Harry said, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder. He smiled weakly and finally looked up at Harry for a moment, but he still didn't feel consoled.

"Is it, though? Is it understandable for a 17 year old to be able to kill someone without doing anything more than lifting a wand? Is it acceptable? I don't think so. Not now, not ever. If I use it, I can help our side, but the members will think I'm trouble, if I don't, we may be highly outnumbered." Draco stated miserably stuffing his hands in his pockets. It was obvious that this was an internal conflict he had been battling with himself for a while. Harry suddenly had a wonderful idea.

"Oh, Draco, don't you see? It's perfect! It's… we have to tell Moody right away!" Harry exclaimed, grabbing Draco's arm and pulling him into the room where Moody and the others had taken their seats and started helping themselves to Mrs Weasley's potato salad. Fred and George looked up expectantly as Harry came bursting into the room dragging Draco behind, followed by a rather flustered looking Ginny. "Draco knows everything!" Harry yelled, causing Tonks and Bill to jump.

"Everything about what, Potter?" Moody asked gruffly, but stopping what he was doing to look at Harry none the less. Harry didn't answer right away; instead he took a deep breath, sat down next to Ron and left Draco staring at him in utter shock, his hands still in his pockets.

"Everything about the Death Eaters, who they are, what they can do, their spells, their skills, their abilities, all of it! He's _trained_ in all of it!" Harry threw his arms up, glad to have gotten that out. Draco stood behind Harry, hands in pockets, his face contorted into an expression of sheer apprehension.

"Harry… I… You… They… So what!? I'm not going to be a double agent! I'm not going to be a death eater for you, I wont, ever!" He yelled at Harry, who stared back at him in shock.

"Draco, no… I… You can teach us. Teach us their tricks, we can outsmart them, I would never send you to be a death eater, Dumbledore would never…" Harry didn't know what else to say, how could Draco think that he would knowingly put him in harms way? He suddenly felt very angry, but let it go when he looked up to see Draco looking at him and smiling crookedly. "I'd never do anything to hurt you." He said slowly. "And I'd never make you do anything that might cause you to get hurt."

"I know, Harry, I'm sorry, it's just that… Well, truthfully, Voldemort scares the living shit out of me." Both boys laughed at Draco's use of muggle cursing. "Come on, let's have some lunch then." Everyone in the room turned back to their food and tried to pretend like nothing had just happened. Everyone, except Moody.

"Malfoy."

"Yes, Mr. Moody?" Draco said, looking up from the plate, which he was shovelling food onto.

"Just how much do you know?" He looked at him with both eyes, normal and swivelling. "Just how much do you know about the dark arts?"

Draco swallowed the food he'd just shoved into his mouth and almost choked on it. Once he'd managed to swallow most of it, he looked at Moody. "Howmukch?" He swallowed what was left in his mouth. "Well, all three unforgiveables, three dozen or so potions and poisons, what was the name of that book, right, P_otions for any Dark Occasion_." He shoved some more potato salad into his mouth and, barely chewing it, swallowed it quickly. "A fair few jinxes and hexes, some wandless magic, namely making things move about without using my wand, wasn't really very good at that…"

"Well, we all know young Harry here's pretty good at that." Said Mr Weasley, seemingly coming out of nowhere, Harry had forgotten that most everyone else had come down for lunch as well. He looked at Mr Weasley for a moment, then at Moody.

"But wandless magic isn't Dark Arts, is it?" He queried, remembering all the times he'd blown things up, broken things, slammed windows, set pythons free… He felt very uneasy all of a sudden, if he'd been doing Dark Arts all that time then maybe he really was –

"No, Potter. Not all wandless magic is dark." Moody said, "In fact, it's neither, wandless magic is simply a mark of an extremely powerful wizard." He turned to Draco. "I'm actually surprised you couldn't do it."

Draco looked defiantly at Moody. "Well, I didn't get much practice at it, really." He said, standing to leave. "Are we going to get back to our training, then?" He asked, slightly mockingly, and headed out the door and back toward the room they'd been training all morning.

When Harry and the others entered, followed by Moody, they found Draco sitting on a warn chair that was in the corner of the room, juggling three items around in the air without touching them. Harry stopped, followed by Ron and Hermione who simultaneously walked into him causing the three of them to fall to the ground, Blaise who almost tripped over the top of them and Moody bringing up the rear, knocking Blaise just enough so that he fell down on top of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

As the four of them tried to get up, Harry and Blaise locked eyes for a mere moment, and Harry felt a jolt in his stomach. Blaise smiled slightly, a little half smile, and Harry remembered how much he loved the way Blaise's lips curled up to one side when he smiled like that. He sighed as he pushed himself into a kneeling position and, dusting himself off and standing up as he turned to face Draco as the others were now doing. He was smirking, the old familiar smirk he used to wear when he was taunting Harry at school. Again, Harry felt the familiar jolt in his stomach.

The jolt turned into an almost sick feeling, for Harry suddenly realised that he was standing in a room, surrounded not only by his best friends, but his lover, his ex lover and the two loves of his life. He slapped his forehead. How was he going to get over Blaise in three days? It felt so right with Blaise, but it felt right with Draco too. That's when he remembered, he and Blaise were soul mates almost as much as he and Draco were, was it possible that he had two soul mates? But then, the prophecy did say… "_Harry Potter and his Twin._"

Everyone else in the room turned to look at Harry. He hadn't meant to say it out loud. He shook his head. "Sorry, I was, uhh, thinking about the prophecy, nothing important though, just thinking." He sighed, realising that they'd been wrong all along. After all, as with most prophecies, it wasn't literal, Harry had no other siblings, but as with most prophecies, all the lines didn't need to correlate. The last line could be completely on it's own. He did need Draco to be with him while he was fighting, Draco's theory at least was right, but he needed Blaise as well. He shook the idea from his thoughts but stored it safely, he couldn't forget, he'd have to talk to Hermione later, it made so much more sense. Well, he thought it did anyway, he'd have to talk to Hermione first, and probably Dumbledore as well.

As Harry came back to the present and the scene unfolding in front of him, he realised that Moody had taken a seat on another old chair toward the back of the room and Draco was placing the three items back on the desk beside him, where he'd obviously found them. "Ok, so maybe I wasn't so bad at the whole wandless magic thing." He started, then looked at Harry. "But he's better."

"No I'm not." Harry stated blankly, he had no idea how Draco had gotten the idea he was better, he'd never done any wandless magic in his life. Well, not on purpose anyway. "I can't control all those things that happen, they just happened when I was scared, or… or angry… or something." He stammered, watching Draco as he stood and walked over the where Harry was standing, he circled him twice and then stopped before him.

"Fear and anger are strong emotions, Harry, as are love and hatred – you can produce a corporeal Patronus, right? Same deal, Harry. You focus the energy of things that make you scared, or angry and you learn to funnel it, you learn to control it and use it as magic, without needing to use a wand. You have a lot more power than me – once you learn to channel it, you'll be able to do much more than my little display there." He motioned back to the desk where he'd been sitting. Moody came over and stood behind Draco, placing his large hand on Draco's shoulder. He looked at Harry.

"He's right, Harry. You're extremely powerful, well you can be, with the right training, I'd bet you'd be able to perform defensive and offensive spells without using a wand." He said, bemusedly. "Yes, I think you could do very well with the right training."

Harry stared at Moody. "But what would the training involve? We don't have enough time, we don't – "

"Yes. We do. I'll continue training you in these spells for this afternoon," Moody said, holding up the book. "And then, starting tomorrow, you and Malfoy will be trained in using your wandless magic, while these three will be trained up in some more defensive magic." He motioned at Hermione, Ron and Blaise. Harry nodded and took out his book as moody took out his wand and walked to the back of the room, bringing back a large, brown box.

"What's with the box?" Ron asked rudely, getting a look from Moody. He shrank back and didn't ask again while Moody flipped through the book and stopped on one of the last pages.

"_Intentio Pro Pectus Pectoris"_ Moody said, and the others all turned to the page that Moody was reading from. Harry looked up suddenly. It was the spell that had caught his eye before lunch and he'd forgotten about. He flipped to the page and then looked back up at Moody. "Well, you seem to be desperate to learn this one, Harry, why don't you come up here and give it a try first?" He motioned to the box that was now shifting around on the desk in great jolts. How had Moody known he wanted to learn it? Had he been that obvious? He shook his head to clear his thoughts and marched over to the box.

Upon opening the box, Harry saw several small creatures that could only be described as little pink or blue clouds. One of them floated up until it was level with Harry's face and then, before Harry could open his mouth and ask what it was, a tiny version of himself was floating in the air before him. He was probably only as tall as Harry's hand, which Harry guessed to be about 7 inches. His mouth fell open in surprise and the miniature Harry's mouth did the same. "What the…?" He breathed, still watching the tiny being flutter down to the desk and start walking around, running it's tiny fingers throughs it's mini hair, just as Harry did.

"What the…?" The mini Harry said in a very high-pitched version of Harry's voice. Hermione giggled.

"Oh, Moody, they're so cute. They're Morphlings, aren't they?" She giggled again and reached out to the Morphling, which climbed up onto her hand and promptly turned into a mini Hermione.

"That's right, they're Morphlings. We're going to use them to practice these spells on, just in case, so none of you get hurt. Don't worry, Ms. Granger, just because they're small doesn't mean that the spells will impact them anymore than they would a full grown man." Hermione sighed with relief as Moody took one of the Morphlings and placed it on the table on front of him, he then took a picture out of his pocket and showed it to the tiny creature who promptly turned into a mini death eater. Draco visibly shivered.

Moody took his wand and muttered the incantation, a yellow jet of light shot out of his wand and hit the tiny death eater square on the chest, it convulsed for a few moments and then fell, lifeless. Moody picked it up. "This is what will happen to your victim when hit with this spell. They will stay like this, dead, unless revived with the correct potion injection within 24 hours." He pulled out a mini syringe and jabbed it into the tiny death eaters arm, he sprung back up and raised his tiny hands, which were balled into fists, and jumped around like a mini boxer as if daring Moody to fight him. The Morphling that Hermione was holding flew off into the desk draw to hide. Moody laughed, a sound which Harry had never heard before.

"Now, in order for this spell to work, you need to be able to project hatred as you say the incantation and aim. This will strengthen the spell, otherwise it will only petrify your victim. Think you can do that?" Hermione looked slightly worried. "The hatred doesn't need to be for the person you're aiming at, hatred for anyone or anything should fuel the spell." She nodded slightly and the boys all mumbled their agreement. "Ok then, Harry, give it a shot."

Harry stepped forward and looked at the tiny death eater now marching along the table humming. He pulled his wand out of his robes. "_Intentio Pro Pectus Pectoris"_ he whispered, remembering from his third year the screaming that was his mother's voice as she was murdered. The little figure fell, convulsed and then lay still.

"Very good, Harry. Now, off you go, oh don't worry you'll be fine, Weasley. That's it, very good Granger. Zabini, a little more hatred might do it. Careful where you aim Malfoy! For the heart, you daft boy." Malfoy mumbled an apology as he burnt the desk.

They spent the rest of the afternoon practicing the majority of the spells from the book – the vanishing defence spells, the blocking spells, shield spells and speed spells – until Moody told them they were doing extremely well and let them go for dinner, he called Draco and Harry to stay back with him as he herded the Morphlings back into their box. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to take the other three down the garden to learn some dodging and speed spells, I'm sure you two will pick them up fine if the others show you tomorrow, but with wolves backing you up, I don't think you'll need them.

"Anyway, tomorrow morning you will be meeting with a good friend of mine, don't worry, she's only young and still has most of her body parts intact, actually, I think she has all of them. Anyway, she's an Auror over at the ministry and I've asked her to come down and do me a favour by training you up, she's agreed and will meet you downstairs at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Her name is Blainey North." The two boys stared at him as he turned and left the room. Harry sat down on the old chair in the corner.

"Don't worry Harry, we'll be fine, you've faced Voldemort before." Draco pulled up the other chair and sat beside him.

"I know, but I keep getting the feeling this won't be the same, it won't be as easy. Not that all the other times were easy." He sighed. "Even though I faced him once he had regained his body and power, I still think this is going to be harder. Why has he been hiding all this time? Why hasn't he attacked several times over by now, he's been hiding something, he's been up to something and whatever it is, this time I don't feel like hanging around to find out." Harry crossed his arms moodily over his chest. Draco laughed. "What? I'm being serious." He snapped.

"I know." Draco said, trying not to laugh. "It's just… well… " He reached down next to Harry and pulled out the little Harry-Morph which had emerged from his hiding spot in the desk drawer. It sat, perched on the edge of Draco's hand, arms crossed across it's chest, sulking. "He looks just like you." Draco started laughing again and Harry smiled as the little Morphling gave a rather mumbled, high-pitched version of Harry's speech. Harry took him from Draco's hand and put him up on his shoulder.

"I think I'll call you Mørph." Harry stated simply, tickling the little cloud like creature perched on his shoulder. He glowed for a moment before nuzzling Harry's cheek. Harry smiled. "Hermione was right, you are rather cute, aren't you?" Morph mumbled a little 'mmhmm' before floating over to Harry's other shoulder as the two boys left the room and headed up to dinner.

Harry took a seat next to Ron and helped himself to a pile of mashed potatoes. "I see you've made a friend, Mr. Potter." Moody said, noticing the Morphling on his shoulder.

"Oh, right, we found him in the desk drawer after you left, brought him back up for you." Harry said, looking at the Morphling. He ducked inside Harry's shirt collar as if hiding from Moody. When Harry tried to grab him he moved about just enough to be out of Harry's grasp. "Well, if I can catch him…" Harry said, still trying to get Mørph as he zipped around the back of Harry's head, avoiding his hands.

"No, no, Harry. It looks like he wants to stay with you. You can keep him." Moody smiled as the little Morphling glided back up to Harry's cheek and seemingly hugged it. Everyone at the table watching laughed. "Give him a name then, Harry."

"I, uhh, kind of already did. I called him Mørph." Harry said, smiling and letting Mørph hover around his collar again. He turned into a Mini death eater as the other Morphling had and staggered around on Harry's shoulder before promptly falling down. Everyone laughed again and the mini death eater stood up and took a bow. Harry patted his tiny head lightly and he turned back into his own little cloud-like form and settled in Harry's collar.

As they finished desert and started making their way up to bed, Harry told Draco to go on without hi and waited for everyone to leave before he went over to Hermione, who was helping Mrs Weasley with the washing up and told her he needed to talk. She nodded and Mrs Weasley said she could go. The walked out of the kitchen and made their way to what had now come to be called the training room, Mørph floating along behind them.

"What's up, Harry?" She sat down on the edge of the desk and Mørph copied her, she giggled.

"Well, I was thinking about the prophecy before, you remember? Anyways, that line '_Harry Potter and his Twin_', it got me to thinking… What if there were two of me against Voldemort." He looked at Hermione, but judging from the look on her face she hadn't caught on.

"What do you mean two of you Harry? That's impossible."

"But is it?" He asked, looking at her face searching her eyes. When she still didn't have a clue what he was talking about he sighed. "Hermione, what if, just before the fighting gets to an end, just before someone won, I went back in time, then there would be two of me to fight Voldemort. Me… and my twin. I would still have Draco to support me, only with his love backing me up do I have a chance at winning, and the other me – we'll, he would have Blaise. I know it sounds stupid but – "

"Harry, I'm not sure. You remember what I told you in third year, wizards who mess with time – "

"Yes, I know, they go crazy, but if we all knew I was going to do it, then we wouldn't go crazy right? Only the death eaters and Voldemort would be confused, which would help us."

"Yes, but I don't think that's what the prophecy means, Harry. I just don't see how you'd find the time to go back, if something went wrong, if Voldemort killed you right before you turned it – "

"I know. I haven't thought it all the way through yet, but I think we should tell the others, I know that we'd have a better chance if I did that. I know it."

Though he could tell she didn't agree whole-heartedly, Hermione nodded and followed Harry out of the room, picking up Mørph off the table as she went.


	10. The Plan

Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Morph concept © Walt Disney Pictures.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

* * *

Harry headed upstairs a little less enthusiastic than he had been before his chat with Hermione. Morph sat on his shoulder, in the form of a mini Harry, his head resting on his hand, which was perched on his knee. Harry was so sure that if there were two of him they'd have a better shot at beating Voldemort, but maybe he was wrong, maybe he and Draco would be able to do it on their own. Harry thought of Blaise again, before shaking his head and opening the door to the room he was sharing with Draco.

Draco was lying in his bed, and looked up at Harry as he entered. Harry smiled as he saw a smile appear on Draco's face when he saw him and went to sit on the bed beside him. Before Harry could get comfortable, he felt Draco's arms wrap around him and was pulled down next to him. Draco nuzzled Harry's neck.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Draco mumbled, his face still hidden in Harry's neck.

"I know." Harry replied, and kissed Draco's forehead. Draco removed his face from Harry's neck and looked up into the green eyes that were watching him so attentively, so affectionately, but so full of sorrow. Harry felt his chest tighten as Draco's face moved closer to his own. He had kissed Draco before, but he had initiated that, and had walked away afterwards. Harry didn't know what he was so afraid of, but whatever it was that was nagging at the back of Harry's mind disappeared as he felt Draco's lips meet his own. Instinctively, Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's neck, pulling their bodies closer.

Draco could feel his heart trying to escape from his chest as he pressed his lips firmly against Harry's. Within seconds he had rolled over so that he was on top of Harry and was exploring his mouth with his tongue. He heard Harry moan softly as Draco straddled him and let his mouth move to Harry's neck.

Harry was in heaven, in absolutely ecstasy and he never wanted it to end, he ran his hands through Draco's hair as Draco let his hands run across Harry's chest before stopping at his belt. Harry inhaled sharply as Draco's arm brushed his crotch and moved up to his shirt, proceeding to remove it. Harry finished the job, pulling the shirt over his head and tossing it aside.

Draco ran his hands over Harry's now naked torso. It was perfect, not as pale as he was, but not too tanned, it was just a nice darker-than-white brown. He let his mouth explore Harry's chest and his hands move southward to Harry's pants. Harry's hands, however had found the top button on Draco's shirt and, removing his mouth from Harry's chest, Draco sat up as Harry skilfully undid all the buttons and slipped the shirt off, tossing it in the corner with his own.

Harry ran his hands over Draco's torso; he was well built and had certainly left behind the scrawny boy that Harry had met in Diagon Alley when they were 11. Draco returned to Harry's chest, slowly moving down towards his pants. Harry cupped Draco's chin in his hand and brought his face up to look at him. He didn't say anything but lost himself in his eyes for a moment. Draco raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Harry leant down to kiss him. Draco moved up and made himself more comfortable, melting into the kiss. He didn't question Harry as to why he'd stopped him.

The two boys took their time getting to sleep that night, but when they eventually did, it was in each other's arms. Harry could barely remember ever being happier, including the day he got his Hogwarts letter, but just before he drifted off, his scar singed and an image flashed into his mind…

The next morning at 8:00 sharp Harry and Draco made their way down the stairs to the foyer below and were greeted by a very beautiful young lady. She looked barely older than Harry and Draco, and was dressed not in robes, but in full Auror attire – A light cotton shirt which was a complimentary shade of forest green, tight pants, which looked like they made moving around easier. Harry noticed a dagger by her left ankle and her wand on her right hip. The two boys also observed several other small weapons and devices which they didn't recognise.

"Goooood Mornin'." Draco started smoothly, extending his hand. Mørph turned into a mini version of Draco, but was instead drooling onto Harry's shoulder, imitating that Draco was drooling in a less obvious way. Harry poked Mørph, who, still looking like a mini Draco, collapsed on Harry's shoulder in a fit of giggles. Harry pouted slightly – this girl could be trouble. He knew, of course, why Draco was in such a good mood, but that didn't mean he had to run off and flirt with every girl he saw; secretly, Harry was glad that they would be spending the day away from Hermione, just in case.

"Well," Her voice was strong, "You must be Mr. Malfoy, and," She turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, I presume." She took Draco's hand and then Harry's as he offered it, she eyed Mørph for a moment before focusing on Harry.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. North. You can call us Harry and Draco, if it's easier." Harry said, not letting go of her hand. She pulled it away after several more moments and nodded. Yes, this girl was definitely going to be trouble, he thought.

"Right then, you can call me Blainey. Call me anything else and you'll wish you were facing Lord Voldemort instead." Harry was startled as she said the name, but didn't comment on it as the three of them made their way down to the training room.

"Ok, so, you wont be needing your wands today, you can leave them on the table here." She pointed to the desk next to where she was seated in one of the old chairs. Harry hesitated, remembering their 5th year Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, but Draco skipped over and placed his wand on the table. Harry shrugged and followed him. "Right, now, I'm assuming Moody's already told you the basics." Both boys nodded. "Good, alright, fist thing I want you to do is take this – " She handed them a piece of parchment and a quill each. "And write down everything that makes you angry, names of people you hate, things that really make you want to strangle something." She watched their expressions change from one of agreement to one of confusion. "Trust me, it helps to write everything down."

Harry simply nodded and put his quill to the parchment. What made him angry? Who did he hate? Well, Voldemort firstly. Professor Snape. Umbridge. Peter Pettigrew. He thought about it some more. Draco, in the mean time, had only written one name at the top of his parchment in large bold letters – Lucius Malfoy. He caught Harry's eye and smiled a little half smile before turning back to his parchment. Harry stared down at his own once more. Potions. Divination. The Dursley's and Number 4 Privet Drive. Dementors… Harry felt a shiver run down his spine. He hadn't realised that he hated so many people.

Draco had ended with a list of about seven people and things, while Harry himself had ended up with about twenty-six. He sighed, maybe he was a horrible person, maybe he would become overwhelmed with hatred and turn to the dark side. He fleetingly remembered a muggle film Dudley had once received for his birthday and recalled one of the characters quoting just that. Fear, hate, anger, suffering. It all led to the dark side. He would never turn.

Blainey, noticing that they were finished, stood up and wandered over to have a look. She wasn't surprised to find that the first thing Harry had written was Voldemort. She stopped though and pointed out the second name on the list. "You hate your potions master?" She asked, as though it was absurd. Harry nodded surely. "Why?" She asked, confused.

"Because he hates my father, so he takes it out on me. He's just a sad, pathetic excuse of a man, who is so miserable he has to take it out on other people. I never did anything to him and he treats me like crap. Always has." Harry stated surely. Draco, who hadn't known this until Harry had said it, looked at him quizzically.

"Snape hates you because of your dad?" He looked almost bewildered, as though Snape would never do a thing like that. "Why?"

Harry felt his blood boil at the thought of it, and though he really didn't want to, he told them the story anyway. "Snape and my dad went to Hogwarts together. They hated each other from day one, kind of like you and me, you know, dad was in Gryffindor and Snape in Slytherin. Anyway, uhh, Sirius, my Godfather, liked to play pranks on people, and one day he did something really stupid that almost got Snape killed. My dad found out and saved Snape's life, so Snape hates him."

"How very Slytherin of him." Draco commented. "Sirius Black is your godfather? I didn't know that… If you don't mind my asking, what did he do that almost got Snape killed?" Harry faltered, he knew he could trust Draco, but he wasn't sure about Blainey.

"It's ok, Harry. I already know, I'm a very good friend of Remus." Harry nodded at Blainey and turned to Draco.

"Well, I suppose being a Slytherin, and one of Snape's favourite students, you probably already know that Lupin is a werewolf." Draco nodded. "Well, you know the whomping willow? That was planted the year my dad started at Hogwarts, at the base of the tree, there's a knot which, when pressed, freezes the branches. There is a tunnel under the tree that leads to the Shrieking Shack. That's where Lupin used to go each full moon to transform, so that he wouldn't harm anyone." Draco was watching Harry with interest instead of the fear Harry would thought he'd be showing, this made him feel a little more confident and he continued with his story.

"One night, halloween, actually, Snape saw Lupin going to the tree to transform, and, seeing him nosing about, Sirius told him if he followed him he'd find out what all of them were up to. Of course, wanting to get them back for all the times they'd played pranks on him and made him look stupid, Snape followed Lupin. If my dad hadn't found out what Sirius had said and run down to stop him, Remus would have killed Snape. I mean, I take that back, Remus wouldn't have done anything. The wolf would have killed Snape." Harry finished, looking at the floor. Then Draco suggested something Harry kicked himself for not thinking about before.

"We could use the shack and the tunnel as look out and escape routes back at school, you can probably store things there too…" He stopped talking when he saw Harry's face drop.

"Not if someone is already using them." He said.

"What do you mean? Who would be using it? How many people know about the tunnel?" Blainey seemed to be thinking the same thing as Draco and she turned her attention fully to Harry as well and waited for his answer.

"Well, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Madam Pomfry, Snape, Lupin, Sirius, my dad, The Weasley twins, Hermione, Ron, me and… Peter Pettigrew." Harry counted them off with his fingers. "Peter Pettigrew knows exactly how to get in there – They're probably already using it, they're already at Hogwarts!" He yelled, he hated Peter Pettigrew, the little traitor. He'd murdered his parents, he'd sided with Voldemort, he'd slept in his dorm for two and a half years – he wanted to kill him.

"Harry. Hold it, I want you to do something for me, channel that anger and, " she pulled a vase off the desk behind her and held it in front of Harry, "concentrate on smashing this vase."

Harry stared at the vase. He was fuming. He though of Pettigrew. He thought of Voldemort breaking into their house in Godric's Hollow and murdering his parents. He thought of Sirius having to spend 12 years in Azkaban. The vase smashed. It broke into hundreds of pieces and fell to the floor. Blainey stepped back and Draco followed suit. Before they could say anything, Harry fled the room. He ran straight to the kitchen and almost ran into Mrs Weasley.

"Are you aright, Harry, dear?" She asked, and reached out to smooth his fringe off of his sweat-smothered forehead, he dodged her hand.

"I need Dumbledore, immediately." He said urgently, and Mrs Weasley's face fell.

"I'm sorry, dear, he's not here."

"Where is he?!" Harry yelled, he was desperate.

"I'm not sure…" Before she could finish, Harry had started yelling again.

"What about McGonagall? Oh, it doesn't matter, where's Moody?" At that point Lupin had entered the kitchen and walked over to Harry placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, calm down, what's wrong?" He turned Harry around to look at him and Harry visibly calmed.

"Iknowwhereheis." He stopped and took a breath, then started again. "I know where he is. They're in the Shrieking Shack, and they're going to use the tunnel and the willow to get to the school." Lupin's face fell at Harry's words.

"Get everyone inside now, we're going to Hogwarts." Lupin said as he stormed out the door to get Moody and the others. Draco and Blainey had rushed into the kitchen as Lupin rushed out, watched him leave and then looked at Harry as if demanding an answer. He looked from Draco, who was out of breath and looked extremely sexy, to Blainey, who was out of breath and looked extremely sexy. He sighed. He was starting to hope that Voldemort could at least put him out of his complicated misery.

"I know where Voldemort is – they're in the Shrieking Shack, that's how they're going to get into Hogwarts." He looked at Draco as he spoke and then turned to Blainey. "We have to stop them, or at least cut them off before they reach the school. I wonder if Dumbledore – "

"Yes, Harry. I knew." Said a very tired looking Dumbledore from the kitchen doorway. "Don't look so surprised, Mr. Potter. After all, apparation is a wonderful thing." He winked and Harry smiled before turning his attention to Ron, Hermione and Blaise as they came pelting through the door.

"We just heard, oh, why didn't we think of it earlier? We could have blocked it up or – "

"No, Hermione, they'd have found somewhere else, at least this way we have the advantage, we know where they are." Harry said.

"But how do you know, how are you sure?" She asked.

"Last night, just before I fell asleep, my scar hurt. Voldemort was extremely happy – he'd found a hiding place and was certain that no one would find him. As I drifted off, an image of the Shrieking Shack flashed in my subconscious, and I forgot about it until now." He said, looking at Ron as he finished. Ron looked back at him.

"But what are we going to do? We're not just going to march up and knock on the door now, are we? He's bound to have more death eaters planted around the place than we can count on all our fingers put together!" Ron was turning a lovely shade of red. He looked to his mother who smiled at him sympathetically. Draco stepped forward and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Whatever we decide to do, I'm with you, Harry." He said, and Harry looked at him gratefully, wishing he had words to tell Draco how much that meant to him and how it made him feel. He pulled Draco into a hug and Draco held him for a few moments before Harry turned back to the group, who had recently been joined by Moody, McGonagall and Snape.

"Gather the rest of the order." Professor McGonagall ordered. "We have to plan this properly if we're to do as Potter says." Harry stared at her sceptically. They were actually going to do what he said, they actually believed him? Wow, he thought, and took the seat that Draco was offering to him. He looked expectantly at professor McGonagall as she shuffled out of the room with Moody.

When they returned they were followed by almost all the original members of the order, Tonks and Mundungas where there, and many new faces Harry did recognise, and some of them he didn't care to. Everyone piled into the kitchen and took a seat somewhere or other and all eyes turned to the door as Dumbledore walked through briskly, far from his usual calm and composed self. He looked extremely flustered and Harry started to wonder just what is was Dumbledore did when he wasn't with the Order or at Hogwarts. Ron was tapping his fingers on the desk, watching Dumbledore expectantly, while Draco was rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively.

"We are going to send in our best." Dumbledore said, his hands leaning on the table in front of him, as though he could no longer stand of his own accord, his voice sounded more tired than usual. "The ones who go will need to be stealthy, they will need to move around without being seen, they will need to know the quickest ways in, out of and around the castle. They will need several items that will help them in doing so… " Harry stared at Dumbledore as though he'd gone crazy. "Mr. Potter will lead the party, which will consist of Mr. Ron Weasley, Ms. Granger, Mr. Zabini, and, of course, Mr. Malfoy." Everyone at the table stared first at Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione and Blaise, and then at Dumbledore as though they too thought he had gone crazy.

"You're going to send a bunch of kids in there to suss out the Dark Lord, report back to us, take a course of action to secure the castle and get all the students into the great hall without any of them getting hurt?" Mundungas questioned dubiously. Dumbledore simply nodded, as serious as any of them had ever seen him, the twinkle in his eye had diminished.

"That's precisely what I'm going to do, they're the smartest student Hogwarts has seen in years. They can do it." He said. "They will leave for Hogwarts tomorrow morning accompanied by Snape, McGonagall, Lupin and Black. I wish you all luck. Anyone else who would like to go of their own accord is welcome, but the rest of us will be backing them up after their first report." And with that he turned in a swish of robes and left the room.

Harry turned around to face his friends. Hermione had flung her arms around Ron's neck while Blaise had placed his hand on Draco's shoulder, who was staring at Harry with such fear in his eyes like Harry had never seen. He didn't want to go, but he didn't want to let everyone down either. He knew that if he managed to make it through this alive it would be a miracle. He sighed as he stood from the table and left the room. He walked up to the room which he shard with Draco. He sat on the bed, let his heads fall into his arms and he cried.

He didn't very for very long, but when Harry did lift his head he saw that Draco was sitting on the bed opposite him and Hermione was standing next to him. Before long, Blaise and Ron entered, followed by Blainey. She sat down next to Harry.

"You know, there are many of us that believe you're the most powerful wizard of our age. And you are, Harry. You'll be ok." She suddenly sounded very soft spoken. In fact, she reminded Harry of Hermione, who had now moved to sit next to Harry and put her arm around him. He smiled at her and rested his head on her shoulder. He knew he never would have been so courageous, loyal or happy if he didn't have his friends. They were his family, and the only family I've got left, he added as an after thought.

"Well, we should practice some more wandless magic, it'll help, Harry. Get some of that anger out, hey?" Blainey smiled but Harry could tell her heart wasn't in it. He got up off the bed and Draco followed him, the others watched him leave.

"You think he really is the most powerful wizard of our time?" Ron asked as his eyes followed Harry's retreating form down the hall.

"Yea," Hermione said, smiling. "He is."

* * *

I'm really sorry that it's taken me so long to update this chapter, but I got caught out at work and I've been busy so I haven't been able to work on it so freely. Hopefully I can get chapter 11 done over the weekend, but it was my birthday yesterday so I'll probably be going out, I promise thought that I'll really try and get chapter 11 up soon, and that they'll finally get Hogwarts and to the action. 


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